Hate Me
by racefh853629
Summary: And with a sad heart, I say bye to you and wave, kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I have made.
1. Prologue Warrick

A/N: As promised, now that I've finished Nostalgic for Disaster, here we go with Hate Me. Pairings will be revealed later on. I do not own CSI, their characters, CBS, or any other known entity that may appear here and throughout the rest of the story. If I own them (because I do have a couple own characters that will creep in), I'll let you know. The story will be first person point of view, and through dialogue and cues it's revealed who's telling each chapter (as well as chapter titles). If that gets too confusing, let me know. Song lyrics at the bottom and in the summary are from "Hate Me" by Blue October, which is where the title comes from, and I do not own the song. The idea came to me while listening to it, though. I hope you enjoy, and please review.

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**Cocktail Hour Memories**

It was weird. Surreal, almost. He'd been promoted to CSI level 2, and then after that shift, he was gone, leaving just a short note in the break room. 'I'm gone. Don't call me, I'll call you,' it said.

I was the one who found the note. He had pinned it to the back of a bag his favorite coffee, almost as if it were a memento of him. All I could do was sit down in the chair and wonder why.

Why did Greg Sanders just up and leave?

Nick had walked in shortly there after, and I still hadn't started making the coffee. I just kept staring at the note in my hand. "What'chu got there, Warrick?" he had asked me.

"Note," I told him, handing it over. He read it before stopping and looking at me.

"He really gone?" I shrugged.

"I don't know what to make of it." Sara was the next to come in and find out what happened, followed by Catherine and Grissom. We wondered if Greg was really gone, what was going on. We tried calling his apartment, his cell phone. We got no answer both times. Landlord said he'd moved out the night before.

"Make no mistake," we told Ecklie. "Greg Sanders is gone." On recall, Ecklie didn't seem all that shocked, but to this day, I don't quite understand why.

We had searched for him for a while, but it was all in vain as we realized that he didn't want to be found. There was only one thing he didn't cancel- his cell phone. But he didn't use it or keep it on. So, after six months of searching, we gave up.

It's been two and a half years since we stopped looking. Nick and I are enjoying cocktail hour in Miami, at a conference. He and I are presenting our topic together, since we worked together on it. We're also both here to plug the lab, as we need a sixth graveyard CSI, per Ecklie's request. We've had a lot of trouble keeping the sixth. In fact, just before we left, Grissom fired Mike Elders (our sixth), but didn't tell us why. We found out through the grapevine, though, that he failed his firearms proficiency because he was too drunk to really stand and shoot. Ecklie, however, wants us to maintain an even number of CSIs, so that when we go out, there's less of a chance that one of us will be alone. As we stand by the drinks, Nick turns to me. "So, should we mingle, or just stay right here by the drinks?" he drawls. I shrug.

"I don't get why we have to promote ourselves at these things," I tell him. "Our numbers speak for themselves."

"But how will they get the numbers if we don't give them out?" Nick does the air quotes, and I know that he's quoting someone, probably Ecklie.

"Research, Ecklie. That's part of our job." Nick laughs.

"Yeah, I know, rii-" He stops mid-sentence and walks away. Confused, I follow him, and watch as he walks over to a guy talking to a girl. He puts his hand on the man's shoulder, and the guy turns around. "Greg Sanders, as I live and breathe," Nick says. My eyes go wide. Greg sorta smiles.

"Nick, Warrick," he says somewhat warmly. The girl with him looks at us briefly before telling him she'll see him later. He nods, and she walks away. The three of us stand there, neither of us knowing what to do next.

"Funny runnin' into you here. Who are you reppin'?" I haven't quite found my voice yet, and Greg chuckles softly.

"No one, exactly. I'm presenting my own thesis." Nick nods. "You guys just here on business or a little more personal?"

"We wrote a paper together, so we're presenting our findings." Greg nods.

"You guys still making bets on everything?"

"Nah, we gave that up."

"Damn. How come?"

"Hasn't been the same since you left." Greg nods, looking a little pained. I half-want to hit Nick for saying that. Greg kind of looks like he's been through hell- his eyes have enormous bags growing under them and he lacks his usual luster.

"Yeah. I miss you guys."

"Why don't you come back? We got an opening. Haven't been able to hold anyone there since you left. I think in the three years you've been gone, we've had about 20 CSIs try to take your place."

"Wow. Damn." Greg falls silent, and Nick and I stand there awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass. I like where I work now."

"Greg, where do you work now?" I ask him softly.

"It's not important," he replies evasively.

"Are you still running?" He shrugs.

"What are you running from?" Nick asks.

"It's not a matter of from, Nicky," Greg replies cryptically. "Look, I don't want to talk about this here or now. I promise I'll call or drop you guys an email soon, okay?" Nick and I nod. "I gotta go. My boss wants me to promote to younger guys, and I'm guessing Grissom or Ecklie or whoever's in charge now wants you to do the same."

"They're both still there." Greg nods.

"Great. I gotta go. I'll see you guys later, okay? I'll make sure to catch your presentation."

"We'll do the same." Greg nods again. "Good luck, Greg, and take care of yourself, yeah?"

"Yeah, man. You too. Great seeing you again." We nod, and Greg walks away. Nick turns to me, mildly shocked.

"Did that just happen?" he asks me.

"I believe so," I reply.

"Should we tell the guys back at the lab about this when we get back?"

"I don't know. We might be getting their hopes up for nothing."

"Yeah, true. Maybe we should just not say anything."

"We have some time to decide, Nick. Let's talk about this again on the plane ride." He nods.

"Good plan, Rick. Now, do we mingle more or call it a day?" I shake my head.

"I've had more than I can take for the day. I say we hit the liquor store down the street and have a party in our room." Nick and I have two separate but adjoining rooms for the conference.

"Sounds good. Let's roll." We leave, setting our plan into motion. But all I can think about is Greg. He looks a lot like hell, and I doubt if he'll call or email us like he said he would. Part of me wants to try and befriend him again, to help him through whatever's made him look so bad. But I know that even if I try, he'll run away again. I sigh, and Nick looks over at me. "I know how you feel," he tells me after watching me for a minute. He and I are close enough that we don't even need to talk. All we have to do is look at each other and just about know what the other is thinking. "But he wants his distance. There's nothing we can do."

"I know," I reply sadly. "I just wish there was."

"You and I both, Rick, but he's gotta want help." I nod.

"Let's get plastered and forget about it."

"Sounds good."

**_I have to block out thoughts of you  
So I don't lose my head  
They crawl in like a cockroach  
Leaving babies in my bed_**

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A/N: So there's the intro! Let me know what you're thinking! 


	2. Chapter 1 Greg

A/N: I don't own any known entity, including (but not limited to) CSI and CBS. Song lyrics at the end are "Change Your Mind" by The All-American Rejects, which I do not own. I forgot to mention Mike Elders (mentioned last chapter) is mine. Ronnie Hall, Jeff Jacobs, Carrie Woods, and Maria Sanchez are all my own characters. Rhode Island does exist, but Lakeland, Rhode Island does not (which is where the crime lab is set, even though it doesn't clearly say in the chapter). Rosewood is a made up section of Lakeland. And I think that's it for now. Enjoy. :)

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**Last Night in Lakeland**

"You wanted to see me?" I say as I poke my head into Ronnie's office. Ronnie Hall is my shift's supervisor.

"Yes, Greg, please, have a seat," he says, gesturing at the chairs in front of him. I sit down, watching Ronnie as he shifts uncomfortably. I think I have a good idea where this is going. I had just gotten back from the conference, and before I left, he had been pretty much told me that as soon as he found somewhere to send me to, I was gone. Well, not in as many words, but that was pretty much what he meant.

"What's up?" I know I'm not going to want to hear the answer to this.

"You've been here for about two and half years now. You've done more than your share to become a CSI Level 3. The unfortunate thing, though, is that we don't have the budget to have more than the three CSI level 3s we have. Not to mention you have to be here for five years to receive a promotion, department policy."

"So the long and short is you're dropping me?"

"Transferring, more accurately. Tonight's your last shift." I grow mildly angry.

"You couldn't tell me this sooner?"

"I'm sorry."

"Where the hell are you sending me?"

"A kid of your caliber and with your talent shouldn't be wasting his time in a Rhode Island crime lab. We don't get much out here, and you know that. You're a lot better than this."

"Where are you sending me?" I repeat, growing nervous. Please, don't say Vegas.

"A great crime lab. Number 2 in the country behind the Fibbies at Quantico. And it's a chance for you to get back out on the West. Your mother's still out there, right?"

"Where are you sending me?" I don't know why I'm bothering to ask. I know I'm going back where I came from.

"Las Vegas."

"Great. Right where I came from."

"I'm sorry, Greg, but we don't have the budget for you to move up, especially since the governor's cut back again."

"Why can't he ever keep the budget in control?" Ronnie shrugs, and I sigh. I know he wants what's best for me. He has ever since I got there. "I take it the others don't know."

"I was going to tell them before shift started. I'm sorry, Greg, I really am. I hate losing you and your talent here, but I don't want to be holding you back."

"Yeah, okay." I stand up. "Thanks for everything, Ronnie."

"You're welcome, Greg. And please, keep in touch with us better than you did with your old team, okay?" I snort a sort of chuckle.

"Yeah, I'll try." I walk out of his office, slumping my shoulders slightly in regret and fear. I'm fearful of going back to Vegas, because I regret leaving like I did, and I know they're going to hate me. I can't exactly worry about that right now, though, because I have a shift to get through. I walk into the break room, and immediately Jeff Jacobs, a CSI 3, turns to me.

"What's going on, man?" he asks me softly. I don't have a chance to answer before Ronnie walks in.

"Guys, I got some bad news," he says. Carrie Woods (our fingerprint tech) and Maria Sanchez (CSI 1) look up at him. "After tonight, we're down to three CSIs on graveyard. Greg's being transferred." They look at me in shock and pain, and I choose instead to stare at the floor. I bet this is how the Vegas team looked when I left. "He's going to go on to bigger and better, going to the Las Vegas Crime Lab. He knows there's no hard feelings and that we all wish him the best of luck." They all nod, and I continue to look at the floor. "Now, tonight all we have is a B and E in Rosewood. Jeff, take Maria with you." Jeff nods. "Carrie, Greg, you know what you gotta do." We both nod. Paperwork. I half don't care anymore. It's my last night, so why should I bother, right?

I finish the little bit I had left before using the computer to search for a home in Vegas. I know this kind of thing could probably get me fired, but what the hell does it matter, right? I'm already out of there. I find a suitable place, and write down the phone number of the realtor before calling on my cell phone. I leave a message with her, then hang up.

"It's not fair," Carrie says from her desk after I finish. I can hear the tears in her voice, and it breaks the pieces of heart I have left further. I shrug.

"He can't promote me, even though I'm over-qualified," I tell her. "So, what's the point of keeping me around?" I want her to think I'm okay with this, even though I hate it more than anyone could know.

"It's still not fair, Greg. To just make you up and move." I shrug again. She doesn't need to know that's what I did the first time.

"There's not much left here for me, Carrie." She looks at me, crying, and I give her a half-smile. "But hey, it was fun while it lasted." She smiles softly as I make my way over to her and wipe away her tears. "Believe me, it was."

"Yeah. Maybe Ronnie'll let you skip out on the rest of the night so you can pack."

"I'm sure Ronnie told them I wouldn't be there for a while. I don't think I need to leave just yet." She nods, frowning.

"Give me a call before you go, okay? I wanna make sure I give you a proper send off."

"Carrie, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't play like that?" She smiles. Since day one pretty much, her and I have flirted and pretended to make dates and sleep together, even though she's with someone, and I'm…well, let's not go there just yet.

"After tonight, it doesn't matter anymore." I laugh.

"Sweetie, you have a boyfriend."

"He doesn't need to know." I laugh harder.

"I'm going to miss you, Margaret." Her and I have the middle name pet name thing going on, have since I got there two and a half years ago.

"Yeah, well, Hojem, you'll just have to keep in touch." I smile.

"I'll be sure to." The rest of the shift seems to fly by, and before I know it, I'm heading home amidst well-wishes and promises to keep in touch. I go home, unable to fall asleep, and decide to continue the packing I had started before I went to Miami. Like I said, I had expected this to come. I know that I need to try to get everything done as quickly as possible. Getting out there later isn't going to make it any better. I just hope they don't hate me that much.

**_And all the bridges you've burned  
Leave you trapped off at all times  
And now the tables do turn  
And it's all gone, what's left for you_**

**_

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_**

A/N: Reviews are lovely and keep the muses happy!


	3. Chapter 2 Nick

A/N: Yes, I know, updates are slow from me, but work and summer classes make things difficult. Anyway, the only characters I own are Mike Elders, Ronnie Hall, Jeff Jacobs, Carrie Woods, Maria Sanchez, and Sandra Berman (mentioned in this chapter). The song at the end of the chapter is "Be Yourself" by Audioslave. I don't own it, CSI, CBS, the characters not already mentioned, or any other known entity. Enjoy!

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**Lacking Sleep and Complete Answers**

I pour myself a cup of coffee as Sara walks into the break room, looking like she's been up for five days straight. Knowing her, she probably has been. "Good morning, Starshine," I say to her. She growls at me.

"Shove it, Stokes," she groans.

"Well, I love you too." I hand her the cup I had poured for myself before grabbing another mug. She looks at me, confused.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. You look like you need it more." She nods. "Long night?"

"You have no idea."

"You've gotta tell that stallion of yours to chill things out."

"It'd be nice if I had a stallion." I sort of frown. Three years, and she still hasn't really moved on from her break up with Grissom. "Stop."

"C'mon, honey. It's been three years. Hell, he's moved on."

"I know, and I'm happy for him, but I don't want anyone right now."

"Your previous comment says otherwise."

"You said I had to tell one to chill. I'd have to have one before that happens." I sigh.

"Truce?" I don't feel like arguing with her today, and to my relief, she nods. "So, what has you in such a great mood?"

"Family business." I nod slowly.

"What do you mean?" I ask softly, know I'm stepping out on thin ice.

"Squaring away my mom's estate, or, more appropriately, lack there of." I nod sadly. Sara's mom passed away two months ago. I had gone over to her place to give her a book we'd been talking about and found her upset. She told me about her mom, her past, everything. I held her as she cried that night before taking her out for a little fun. She was reluctant, but I'm nothing if not persistent.

"I'm sorry, honey." She shrugs.

"What's done is done." She sits on the couch, and I sit beside her, throwing my arm on the couch behind her. She closes her eyes, throwing her head back against my arm.

"Take a nap," I tell her.

"For what, five minutes?" she replies, keeping her eyes closed.

"Better than nothing." She nods, and I wrap my arm around her, pulling her close to me. "C'mon, I make a good pillow." She sighs.

"Nick, I feel like I haven't slept in years." I rub her shoulder softly.

"Have you been sleeping lately?" She shakes her head no. "Why?"

"I don't know. I try, and I wake up screaming because all I see is my mom killing my dad over and over. I don't know, Nick. I was over it, was past it, but it's back and haunting me. I don't get it."

"We never truly get past things, Sara. We learn to deal with them, keep them out of our consciousness, but they're always there, and they always will be. Certain things may trigger a subconscious attack, like your mom dying. It sucks, believe me, I know, but there's nothing we can do." She doesn't respond, and I look over to find her sleeping. "Guess I bored you to sleep, huh?" I joke to myself. Warrick walks in.

"I leave you guys alone for five minutes, and you get all cozy on the couch," he jokes.

"Nah," I reply. "Hurricane Sara just stalled."

"How long?"

"Didn't get that far, but I'd say at least a few days."

"Why does she do this to herself?"

"You're askin' the wrong person, man." He pours himself a cup of coffee and sits across from me. "So, any news on a sixth yet?"

"Grissom's not saying anything, so I don't know." Catherine walks in and stops, looking at me and Sara.

"Sara Stokes," she says. "I don't know how I like it." I roll my eyes.

"Catherine Brown," I say back. Warrick smacks my leg, and Sara groans.

"You guys are so together, she's even feelin' your pain."

"Oh, please." Warrick's laughin', and I smack him back. We continue to goof off and joke until Grissom walks in. I wake Sara up gently, and she hits me. "Hey," I say to her. "It's time to work. No need for the added violence." She sighs.

"Sorry," she replies. Grissom notices the two of us and shrugs.

"Okay, before we start, I have an announcement," he says. We all look at him. "We are, in fact, getting another sixth person for our team. Ecklie told me we're getting a CSI 2 transfer from Lakeland, Rhode Island."

"Where the hell is that?" I ask. Sara laughs beside me.

"And now we know why you failed high school geography," she jokes.

"No. Sandra Berman's the reason I failed high school geography." We all laugh.

"To answer your question, Nicky," Grissom continues. "Rhode Island's a small state in the Northeast, near Massachusetts and Connecticut."

"You've heard of it before," Warrick tells me. I think for a minute before nodding.

"Right," I say. "They had that thing there. I saw a presentation on that at a conference."

"Regardless," Grissom continues, "our CSI should be here in about a week."

"Did Ecklie give a name?" Catherine asks.

"No." Of course. "And he hasn't given me the file on the guy, so I don't know how good he is. His first night is Friday."

"Oh, what a great night to start," I say. "This kid's gonna run in three hours."

"What's the deal with Lakeland?" Catherine asks.

"It's a decent size city," Grissom says. "Not much in the way of criminal activity, though." She nods, and I sigh.

"So we're basically gettin' a level 1, huh?" I ask. Grissom shrugs.

"No idea, Nicky. I don't have his file." We all nod.

"So, what are we up against tonight?" Warrick asks.

"Warrick, you and Sara have a 419 in Henderson," Grissom says. "Catherine, Nick, and I have a triple at the Lucky Seven." We stand, separating for our assignments.

**_Someone falls to pieces  
Sleeping all alone  
Someone kills the pain  
_****_Spinning in the silence,  
She finally drifts away_**


	4. Chapter 3 Grissom

A/N: Yes, the new one from me. :) See previous chapter for disclaimer. RIU does not exist either in real life. New to this chapter- my beta! Much thanks to lostladyknight. Oh, and I know Greg (in this chapter) seems really stiff and out of character, but bear with me. Song at the end of the chapter is "Landing in London" by 3 Doors Down. Enjoy!

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**New Guy's First Night in Vegas**

Ecklie walks into my office and clears his throat. "File on your new CSI," he says, putting it down in front of me. I groan.

"Conrad, he's going to be here in twenty minutes," I say. I know he knows that, because he's the one that told me. "Why am I just getting this now?"

"My secretary's a little slow. I told her to send it earlier in the week, when I got it. I saw it on her desk tonight and personally walked it over to you." I nod, even though I know a lot of what he just said was bullshit.

"Thanks, Conrad."

"Not a problem, Gil. I'm just sorry it's getting here this late." I nod, and he leaves. I shake my head, taking the time I have left to look at his file.

"Greg Sanders," I read aloud. The same as the one that left here? "Couldn't be." I barely get a chance to open the file when I hear a voice coming from the door.

"Do I have to donate again?" I look up to find Greg standing in my doorway, a sight I haven't seen in three years. Only this time, instead of the wacky T-shirts and weird hair, he's wearing a polo, slacks, and sensibly cut hair. When did this happen?

"You're new here," I tell him. He nods his understanding.

"Well, I'm glad I wore this shirt, then." He sits and rolls up his sleeve, and I take some of his blood. I sit behind my desk.

"How are you, Greg?" From the looks of things, he hasn't done all that well since he left. He's lost weight, which I wasn't sure was possible and I'm sure it's not healthy, and some things just seem off about him.

"I'm okay," he says, somewhat honestly. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Welcome back." I flip through his file as he sits back, looking a little more comfortable. "You're still a CSI 2, right?" I look up at him.

"Yep." I look back at his file, reading the page that lists his qualifications and his supervisor's recommendations.

"Looks like you're more than qualified to be a CSI 3. Why aren't you?" I look up at him again and watch as he becomes a little guarded.

"Politics," he says succinctly, and I say nothing more, turning back to his supervisor's remarks.

"Lakeland says you were better than every other CSI they had. Why'd they let you go?" He shrugs.

"Ronnie said something about Lakeland not wanting to hold me back." I look at him as he watches me. Something in his voice says otherwise.

"You don't believe him." He shrugs again.

"I don't believe it really matters now that I'm here. I didn't do anything wrong, and I left on a good note with them." I nod, watching him. Something's really wrong with him. I look back at his file.

"You worked there for two and a half years?" He nods. "You left here three years ago. What happened in those six months?"

"Stuff… life…"

"You're being evasive."

"Let it go."

"I can't, Greg. I can't let you out there if you're unstable."

"I'm not unstable. I just don't want to talk about it." I shrug, deciding to take another route.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look so good." He sighs.

"I'll be honest, sir. I've been through a lot these past three years. I'm not quite ready to get into all the specifics, but I will soon. I promise." I nod, not quite satisfied with his answer but knowing that I'm not going to get much more out of him. He sits in silence as I read over his file. "If it's not saying so much, it looks like you haven't even read my file."

"Didn't get much of a chance," I tell him. "Ecklie brought it over ten minutes before you showed up."

"Sorry."

"Why? You didn't do anything." He sighs.

"They still hate me?" he asks softly. His tone hints that he regrets the way things went down, and I realize at this moment that I have picked up a thing or two from my wife.

"We never hated you, Greg."

"Fine. Are you guys still mad at me?" I shrug.

"When was the last time you talked to any of us?"

"I saw Warrick and Nick at the Miami conference last month. I'm sure they didn't tell you guys they saw me, though."

"No, they didn't."

"I can't say that I blame them." I shrug. "Nick asked if I was still running away."

"Are you?"

"I wasn't exactly running away in the first place." I arch my eyebrows, confused. "Away means I was trying to escape from something, but I loved it here."

"Then why'd you leave?"

"I'm not ready to talk about it, sir."

"Greg, call me Grissom or Gris or even Gil for all I care. Please, stop calling me 'sir'."

"Okay." I glance at his file again.

"You're qualified enough to be a CSI 3," I reiterate to him. "But I don't think promoting you as soon as you get here is a good idea, so it'll be a little time and a proficiency before you get there." He nods. "Before we go meet the others, I have one more question."

"Okay."

"This is a permanent change, right? You're not just going to up and leave again?"

"No. I'm sorry about the way things went down before, and I regret leaving like that. I promise that I won't do it again." I nod.

"Okay. Let's go, then." We leave my office and head for the break room. "So, why Rhode Island?" He shrugs and keeps his mouth shut. "That fall under what you won't talk about?" He nods. "What was it like out there?"

"Man, their busy nights were nothing. Slow nights here are worse. I had a lot of time to write my thesis and do other things. Got my master's degree out there."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"Where'd you get it from?"

"RIU." I nod. "They have a pretty good program. I wrote my master's thesis, had it accepted, and then presented it again in Miami."

"Did you see Nick and Warrick's presentation? They had a good one."

"Yeah, I saw theirs. It was great. I don't remember if they stuck around for mine."

"I wouldn't know." I didn't even know they saw one another there. He nods, and we reach the break room. He pauses. "Let's go."

"Uh, you first," he says nervously. "Test the waters, set me up." I shrug.

"Whatever, Greg." I walk into the break room. Nick turns to see me alone.

"I thought we were getting a new guy tonight," he says. The others turn to see that I'm alone.

"We are," I tell him. "He's a little shy."

"You take his blood?"

"Of course."

"What's he like?"

"Experienced Level 2, over qualified for Level 3."

"Then why isn't he already a Level 3?" Catherine asks.

"He said something about politics," I tell her.

"Where is he?" I poke my head out of the room.

"Your public awaits," I tell Greg, opening the door wider for him. He walks in, and everyone in the room stares in silence. And for about five minutes, the room is silent and no one moves until Nick gets up and walks over to Greg. He pinches him, and Greg yelps.

"Oww," he groans. Nick smiles.

"You're really here," he says.

"Yeah. Did you have to pinch me so hard?" Greg rubs his right arm, frowning.

"I barely touched you, Greggo."

"Yeah, well, there's not as much of me as there used to be."

"When the hell did you get married?" Catherine asks. Greg stops rubbing his arm and starts playing with the ring on his finger, and I furrow my brow. How could I have missed that? Then again, it wasn't like he…

"About the same time Grissom did," he jokes. So he did notice.

"Grissom's been married for what, six months?" Warrick says, looking at me. I nod my confirmation.

"Okay, then I got married before Grissom did." He looks a little pained, though I'm not sure why. Is he not happy with her?

"She come with you?" Nick asks.

"Another story for another time," Greg says evasively. "I'm sure Grissom has work for us."

"You can't answer the question?"

"I'd rather not."

"We have a full load tonight," I interrupt, and Greg shoots me a look that says 'thank you.' I nod. "Nick, you and Greg have a body in the desert. Remember your jackets, because it's cold outside."

"Yes, Daddy," Nick jokes. I ignore his comment.

"Sara, you and Warrick have a robbery at the Tangiers. Catherine and I have a body just off the strip. Let's go." They jump to their feet, all leaving Catherine and myself alone.

"Is it just me, or is something really wrong with Greg?" she asks me softly.

"He admitted he's been through a lot," I tell her. "Other than that, I don't know anything. He wouldn't say." She nods. "Shall we get going?"

"Yeah." We walk out of the break room. "How's Heather doing?"

"Fine, thanks for asking."

"Are you two planning to have kids?" I chuckle.

"I'm too old."

"No you're not. There are women who are having kids in their sixties, when biology says we're supposed to be done in our fifties. If they can do it, you can." I shake my head.

"We might adopt," I confide in her as we walk over to the car.

"That'd be good. The CSI and the dominatrix. If Nick were here, he'd say that sounds like a porno title." I smile as we get in and go to our crime scene.

**_You've got to understand it's a hard life  
That I'm going through  
And when the night falls in around me  
I don't think I'll make it through_**

**_

* * *

_**

A/N: Reviews, anyone?


	5. Chapter 4 Nick

A/N: I know, it's been over a week since my last update, and I apologize. Life got in the way on me. Rather lengthy disclaimer: I do not own CSI, CBS, the characters on the show, or any known entity. I do not own Rhode Island, or any of the Rhode Island-isms featured in this chapter. Del's is real, I don't own it, but it's frozen lemonade. For further clarification on any and all mentioned RI-isms, please PM me or drop me a comment. I do own Mike Elders, Ronnie Hall, Jeff Jacobs, Carrie Wood, Maria Sanchez, and Sandra Berman. Nick's method of speaking changes a little bit in this chapter, but I'm doing that in the hopes that it seems more real. Let me know what you think. As revealed last chapter, Grissom is married to Lady Heather, hence that pairing. Others will be revealed when my instrument of wonder finally chooses. My beta, lostladyknight, knows what I'm talking about... I think (haha). Much thanks to her for being my beta. :) Song at the end of this one is "Simon" by Lifehouse, which I do not own. And, as always, enjoy and review. :)

* * *

**Crime Scene Silence and Fun Lab Times**

At the crime scene, Greg is all business and completely silent. We're processin' the scene for a while before the silence starts to really get on my nerves. "God, it's like workin' with a corpse," I say.

"We do have a DB, you know," Greg half-jokes. I shake my head. That was lame.

"I'm not talkin' about that, man. I'm talkin' about you." He shrugs.

"I'm finished," he tells me, ignorin' my point. I look around, knowin' there isn't any more we can do here.

"Me too. Let's roll back to the lab." He nods, followin' my lead to the car. We pack everythin' in before ourselves. Once we're on our way, I turn to him. "So, what's the deal?" I ask him.

"What do you mean?" he replies, concentratin' out the window.

"You're, like, dead, man. What happened?"

"More than you know or than I'm willing to say right now."

"Why'd you leave?"

"I'll tell you later."

"Tell me now."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because, I just can't, okay? Please, respect that, Nick." He sounds hurt, and I feel bad.

"I'm sorry, man. But do you know what it's like to have your best friend up and leave for no reason and not even bother to talk to you for a while? And then you run into them at a conference three years later, and they say they have no desire to come back, but then a month later, here they are."

"I didn't want to come back. My supervisor sent me."

"Why?"

"Something about staying there holding me back." I nod.

"You don't believe him."

"Grissom said the same thing."

"Then it must be true."

"It doesn't matter what I believe," he utters. I glance over at him. "I'm here now."

"Bitter?" I ask him.

"Not really. Not exactly relieved, either."

"Why's that?"

"I'll explain later."

"When later?"

"If you can manage to convince the team to all come to my place for dinner tomorrow night, I'll tell you all then. Some of this you'll have to see to believe." I nod.

"You got it. What'll you make?"

"Something good that all of you will eat."

"Eggplant and chicken parm?" He chuckles softly.

"Don't mock the power of parm, man." I laugh softly. A little bit of old Greggo is still in that shell. He falls silent, and goes back to his corpse-exterior.

"Greg, seriously, this is eatin' at you, man. Tell me somethin', anythin', that could help you out."

"There's nothing that can, Nick," he says sadly.

"You sure?" I ask.

"You have no idea what these last three years have been like. Unless you can make this one uneventful, which I know you can't, then you can't help me out." I sigh.

"I wish I could."

"I wish you could too." We reach the lab, and he drops things off in Trace with Hodges. I walk into the DNA lab, and Wendy looks up at me.

"Rumor has it Greg is back," she begins. "Confirm or deny, or I won't do anything for you."

"Confirm," I say. "He just went to drop stuff off with Hodges." She nods, smilin'.

"I'm glad he's back."

"I wouldn't be too excited. He's nothin' like he was." She frowns slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll send him in later so you can see."

"Why'd he leave?"

"He won't say just yet. He's havin' dinner at his place tomorrow, and he'll explain then."

"Am I invited, or is this just a CSI thing?"

"I'm invitin' you." She nods.

"Great. Think Hodges is invited?"

"Why not? He's your boyfriend." She laughs.

"I'm sure Greg'll love hearing that one. He told me to 'stay the hell away from Trace' before he left."

"Yeah, well, if he gets upset, tell him it's 'cause you lost his guidance." She laughs.

"That's mean."

"Process for me? Please?"

"You held up your end, so I'll get right on it."

"Thanks, Wendy. And you know, you can do better than Hodges."

"You tell me that every damn day."

"Doesn't make it any less true." I walk out of DNA and into the break room. Greg walks in shortly there after.

"I didn't think it was possible for Hodges to have feelings other than asshole," he says. I laugh.

"Asshole's an emotion?" I ask.

"Should be. He said he missed me."

"Was he being serious?"

"Yes."

"Did you owe him money before you left?"

"No."

"Then I don't know what his motive was."

"Me neither. And he hugged me, too!" I laugh. "What's with that?"

"I don't know, man."

"Who else is still here?"

"Archie, Mandy, and Wendy. Henry left about four months ago. Got a job in Hawaii."

"Nice." He sits on the couch. "Nice to know these are still uncomfortable." I laugh.

"Yeah, some thin's never change." He sighs.

"Hodges and Wendy are together, aren't they?" he asks after a moment.

"How'd you figure that one out?" I ask him.

"There's a reason I'm practically a CSI 3." I chuckle.

"Yeah, I guess. So we never talked about what you've been up to these past three years."

"I said, don't go there."

"Hey, I'm only askin' for what you're willin' to share."

"Okay. The thesis I was presenting at the conference was my master's thesis. I have my master's now. I have also found out that I really enjoy clam cakes and 'chowdah'." I laugh as he provides air quotes around the last word.

"How long were you out there?"

"Long enough. Seriously, it's good."

"I don't know if I've ever had it."

"You'll have to try it sometime. Oh, and hot wieners are damn good too." I look at him as if he's got three heads. "Another thing I'll have to try to make sometime."

"Okay."

"Del's is probably one of the best things you'll ever taste. Coffee milk I found to be a little overrated, but Carrie, the fingerprint tech I worked with, she swears by it. Her son's already an addict, I think, and he's four." I chuckle. "It was kind of weird not having to drive half an hour for the nearest anything, though. But another bonus is you're only about two and a half hours away from some prime skiing, depending on who's driving and how many friends they have. Oh, and it's got some pretty decent surfing, especially after the storms. And pretty much everyone knows everyone else in that state in two people or less."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's really something else out there, really cool, but at the same time, really boring. I mean, there would be nights that Jeff, Maria, Ronnie, and I would all be there, but there'd be nothing for us to do. I think on our most busy night, we had one big fire or something that we had to investigate. That was it. Business was slow and easy. Most of the time, a suspect was already found, so it'd be up to us to get enough to convince a jury, but that's it. Here, totally different ball game." I nod.

"Sounds like you had a good time, though."

"It wasn't bad. Awake all night, early morning surf, sleep all afternoon, repeat. Classes for my master's degree. It was all pretty easy."

"Sounds it. What was Lakeland like?"

"Suburban, mostly. Although it had an urban-ish area to it. We're not the capital city and we don't have any useable beaches, so there's not as much tourist action there." I nod.

"That's kinda cool. Did you miss the city?"

"At times, but I also liked not driving halfway around the world for a grocery store." I nod again.

"I'm glad you're back, Greg. Thin's haven't been the same without you."

"I can't guarantee they'll go back with me."

"I know, but at least you're here." He smiles softly.

"Thanks, man. I hope everyone else is this accepting."

"We'll see, Greggo. I can't speak for them."

"I know Sara's pissed."

"She's been moody for a while, ever since her and Grissom broke up."

"They broke up?" I nod. "Then who did he marry?" I smile.

"I think she had him at 'would you prefer individual sessions or would you like to enjoy each other's submission'." Greg's eyes widen.

"He married Lady Heather?"

"The one and only."

"Good God."

"They're very compatible, always have been. She's good at readin' people, and he's good at followin'… inhuman clues."

"I'm glad you threw that qualifier in there." I laugh.

"Yeah, had to. We all know he's not that great at readin' people." Greg nods, and I see conflict arise in his eyes. "It doesn't make you easy if he can tell you're not okay."

"No? How do you figure?"

"You are probably one of the hardest people to read. You're bouncy and happy and I don't know if that's because you're really happy or you're tryin' so hard to hide the fact that your life sucks that you make yourself be happy. Your outward appearance right now, though, suggests that you've changed a lot, you're not the same. You've lost weight and you look tired, so it's an assumption that somethin's up." He nods.

"How long ago did he and Sara break up?"

"About three years ago, master of the segue." Greg nods again.

"Who dumped who?" I shrug.

"Hard to say," I tell him. "Neither really talks about it, and it doesn't affect how they work together. She hasn't moved on much, so I think he was the one that said somethin' and she's not holdin' it against him." He nods.

"Why?"

"Again, they don't really talk about it." I keep my mouth shut, not wantin' to get further into it. Rumor has it that she was so upset about Greg leavin', and told Grissom it was because she had been in love with Greg, and Grissom didn't want to be with someone who was in love with someone else, so he ended it. But I'm not about to tell Greg that, because it might make him feel worse about everythin'. I look over at Greg, who's lost in his own thoughts. "You okay, Einstein?" I ask softly.

"Yeah, fine," he replies, his voice a little shaky.

"Liar."

"Do you think it bothers her? Especially since he got married six months ago?" I shrug.

"She's had other thin's to worry about." He looks at me.

"Like what?" I shake my head.

"Not my place, Greggo." My pager beeps, and I look down. "Wendy has our results. Why don't you go get them? She'd love to see you again." He nods as his pager beeps. He smiles, lookin' at me.

"Have fun with Hodges." I laugh, standin' and startin' to walk out.

"Will do."

"Hey, Nick?" Greg says, stoppin' me.

"Yeah?" I reply, turnin' around.

"Thanks for being so… okay. You've been really cool since I got in tonight, so, thanks."

"No problem, man. You've been through hell enough without me or anyone else addin' to it." He nods, and I turn around again, making my way to Hodges and Trace. I wonder, though, what he went through to make him almost do a 180. Will he ever be the same again?'

_**Cause the weak will seek the weaker  
'Til they've broken them  
Could you get it back again?  
Would it be the same?**_


	6. Chapter 5 Catherine

A/N: Here's a birthday present for you guys, because it's my birthday... haha. See previous chapter for disclaimer. Song at the end is "One Small Choice" by Audiovent, and I do not own it. Much thanks to my beta, lostladyknight... you're awesome! The next three chapters (this one and the two after) all happen on the same night- pre-dinner (Catherine), during dinner (Sara), and post-dinner (Greg). Just so there's no confusion on that. :) Okay, enjoy and as always, please review. :D

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**Getting Dinner Ready**

I arrived at Greg's early, hoping to help him out a bit. It's hard to cook for the entire team and the rest of the lab. I ring his doorbell, and he answers it after a moment. "Hey, Cath," he says.

"Hey Greg," I reply. "I thought you might need some help cooking." He smiles.

"Yeah, I could, actually. Come on in." I walk in, and the smell of Italian cooking hits my nostrils.

"I brought some wine, since we're not working tonight." Greg smiles wider.

"Great. Goes good with chicken and eggplant parm."

"Your specialty?"

"Nah. Just something I know all of you like."

"I think Grissom said he was bringing dessert and his wife."

"Nick and Warrick are bringing bread or something, Sara's bringing salad, Wendy's bringing soda and only God knows what else, and Hodges is bringing himself." I chuckle.

"Yeah, Hodges wouldn't bring something."

"Mandy, Sofia, Brass, and Archie are bringing 'housewarming gifts'."

"Ecklie coming?"

"He, uh, politely declined."

"Ecklie did something politely?"

"Well, it was polite for him anyway." I smile, seeing a little bit of the old Greg still there. "So, I could use some help prepping the eggplant while I'm doing the chicken."

"Okay. Hey, I have a question for you."

"Okay, shoot."

"Where's your wife?"

"Uh… she's not here right now."

"Where is she?"

"She's still in Rhode Island, taking care of things." I know he's lying, but I don't push the issue. We work together well in the kitchen for a while until the doorbell rings again.

"Can you get that for me?" he asks, hands full of dinner.

"Sure," I say, wiping off my hands and walking to the entry hall. I open the door to find Grissom and Heather there with dessert. "Hey guys," I greet them.

"Hello, Catherine," Heather says warmly.

"Come on in." I step aside, and they walk into Greg's house.

"Where's Greg?" Grissom asks.

"In the kitchen," I tell him. He looks at me. "What?"

"How's he doing?" I shrug.

"He doesn't seem bad." He nods, and Heather looks at him in curiosity.

"Do you guys need help in the kitchen?" she asks.

"Let's ask the chef ourselves," I say, leading her into the kitchen. Greg looks up as the door to the kitchen opens. "Greg Sanders, this is Heather Grissom," I introduce. "I'm not sure the two of you have met before."

"No, we haven't," she says. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Sanders. I've heard so much about you."

"Is that good or bad?" he asks. She smiles.

"Mostly good. You were quite indispensable to the team." Heather's statement cuts Greg slightly, something that doesn't go unnoticed by her. "My words appear to have hurt you."

"It's okay."

"You're lying, Mr. Sanders."

"Please, call me Greg. And, it did hurt to actually hear someone say that, but I'm okay with it being said." She nods, and I can tell she doesn't believe him.

"Do you need any help, Greg?" He looks around the kitchen.

"I think I have everything under control, but thank you, Heather. And thank you, Catherine."

"No problem," I say.

"Where would you like me to put this?" she asks.

"The, uh, counter's fine," he says. The doorbell rings again, and he moves to answer it. Before he can leave the kitchen, we hear Nick and Warrick greet Grissom. "I'll be right back," he tells us as he walks out. Heather and I look at each other.

"So, he's hiding his life?" she asks. I shrug as Nick walks in.

"Hey ladies," Nick says with a smile. He kisses my cheek and hugs Heather. "How are ya both today?"

"Very well, Mr. Stokes."

"I'm good, Nicky," I say. "How are you?" He puts down the dish next to Heather's dessert.

"I'm doin' well. Warrick brought cornbread, because we thought bringin' the same thing would be a little weird." I laugh.

"You guys are weird anyway."

"Where's Greg?"

"He just left the room," Heather says. Nick nods.

"Well, I can't cook to save my life, so I'm gonna get out of the kitchen," he says. I laugh.

"Greg says everything's under control, so let's all go," I suggest. Heather shrugs, and the three of us walk out of the kitchen. We walk into the living room, where Sara, Sofia, and Brass have joined Grissom and Warrick.

"Who else is coming?" Sara asks softly.

"Wendy, Hodges, Mandy, and Archie," I tell her.

"What?" Archie says as he walks in. Mandy tags along behind him.

"Hodges and Wendy," I correct myself before greeting everyone else.

"Where's our host?" Mandy asks.

"He disappeared into his house," I say. Wendy and Hodges walk in with Hodges carrying the bags. Nick makes the sound of a whip cracking, and Hodges groans.

"At least I have a girl, Stokes," he says, bringing the bags into the kitchen. Sara puts the salad she brought in the kitchen as well, and Mandy, Sofia, Brass, and Archie put their gifts down. Greg walks into the room from the kitchen.

"Everyone's here, great," Greg says, smiling. "Dinner's almost ready." He sits down with us, and we all chat until dinner is finished. I then help him move everything into the dining room, and everyone gathers around the table.

**_So easy  
One small choice could end my life  
And I'd take the second chance  
To make things right  
_****_One small choice  
Just one small choice_**


	7. Chapter 6 Sara

A/N: I know I said I'd try to get this up by the fourth, but I was really busy yesterday. Oh, well. Anyway, see two chapters ago for the disclaimer, because that was a good one. Song at the end of this is "Invisible City" by The Wallflowers, which I don't own. Thanks to my beta, lostladyknight... you're awesome! Okay, hope you guys enjoy this one, and please review!

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**Mid-dinner Chats**

Nick sits beside me as we eat dinner, and he nudges me. He indicates that he wants to talk, and I nod. "Greg, where's the bathroom?" he asks.

"Down the hall, to the left," Greg replies.

"Thanks." Nick gets up, walking down the hall. After a moment, I excuse myself from the table and walk after Nick, finding him actually in the bathroom.

"What's up?" I ask him softly.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asks me, somewhat angrily.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit, Sar. You haven't said more than two words to him since he's gotten here."

"That's not true."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you've yelled at him." I roll my eyes.

"Do you have a point to this?"

"Why are you bein' such a bitch? He's back!"

"For how long this time? Huh? Do you really think that he's not just going to up and run again?"

"Yes. I think he's here to stay."

"You're an idiot."

"And you're bein' stubborn! C'mon, Sar. Can't you see he's been through hell?"

"And I haven't? I haven't had a good night's sleep in three fucking years, Nick. I've been so fucking worried about him since he left that it tore up my relationship with Grissom. And then when I think my life is getting on track enough to sleep again, it gets derailed with everything with my mom. And then he comes back, and now I have to figure out whether or not I can trust him again. Don't you understand, Nick?" He sighs, slumping his shoulders.

"I know you've been hurtin'. If you'd let me help when I kept tryin'…"

"It wouldn't work," I say, softer. "I wouldn't even let Grissom help. That's what tore us apart."

"It would work. I don't think you know how to let people help you though."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" I ask angrily. This entire conversation is between hate and concern.

"You wall yourself off from the world when you have problems. You keep them silent, inside, personal, and after a while, they eat at you and make you angry and bitter. You wall yourself off because you feel like you can't trust anyone else. But you can't trust anyone if you don't try. Bein' burned in the past doesn't mean that you can't trust, Sara."

"I've trusted you," I point out.

"Yeah, but your trust in me didn't start until three months ago," he reminds me. I sigh, sitting up on the sink. "And even still, it was only about your experience with your parents. Nothin' more, nothin' less. You didn't tell me what happened with Grissom until two seconds ago. You don't know how to let people help you because you don't trust people. And, in all honesty, I can't say I blame you. People suck." I chuckle softly. "I know Greg screwed up, but hear him out. I'm sure he left for a reason."

"I don't get how you can so readily accept him back."

"Because I know he never wanted to leave."

"It's not like anyone made him, dammit! He made that choice on his own!"

"Maybe it was a little beyond his control," Heather says from the doorway, causing the two of us to jump. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I need to wash my hands." I jump off the sink as she walks in and shuts the door behind her.

"What do you mean, beyond his control?" I ask her as she turns on the water.

"He seems to have changed a lot over the years. At least that's what I've been hearing from all of you. And according to all of you, he was happy here before he left. Why would he leave without a good reason? Was he running from something?"

"He told me once he wasn't runnin' away," Nick says. I shoot him a look. When the hell did he talk to Greg and why didn't he tell anyone?

"So, running to," Heather says, drying her hands. She shrugs. "He left because wherever he went had something he needed. Something that he couldn't get here. Or, at least it wouldn't be as good here." She puts the towel down and looks at me. "Nick's right, Sara. You should cut him a little slack."

"How long were you standing in the doorway?" I ask her.

"In time to hear you say he made the choice to leave."

"Then how did you know what Nick said?" She smiles and walks away, not answering the question. Nick shakes his head.

"She's good," he says.

"Yeah," I reply quietly. "Look, Nick, I know you're right, but I just… I can't help it. He betrayed me, and I can't let go of it that easily."

"I know, but do you have to shut him out? He needs our help, Sar, not us hatin' him." I nod slowly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"You gonna step back a bit?" I nod. "Okay. Let's eat." I chuckle.

"What is it with men and food?"

"We have to have it. We can't help it." I chuckle again.

"Let's go, Porky."

"Oh, so that's how it's gonna be, huh?" he says as we walk out of the bathroom and down the hall.

"Yeah, that's it," I reply, winking.

_**The imitation of good faith  
Is how you stumble upon hate  
It may have been the first of mistakes  
When we held on too loosely  
Then opened the gates**_


	8. Chapter 7 Greg

A/N: So, there's not much better to do for me today since I'm not feeling well, but anyway... I don't own CSI, CBS, or any other known entity. I do own Mike Elders, Carrie Woods, Jeff Jacobs, Ronnie Hall, Maria Sanchez, and Sandra Berman. Song at the end is "Bitter" by Nine Days, which I do not own. Thanks to my beta, lostladyknight, who is wicked awesome. Anyway, onto the chapter you've all been waiting for:D

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**Caffinated Revelations**

Now that dinner's over, I know I have to tell them everything. And I'm nervous. I figure the best thing would be to start at the beginning and go from there, but I'm not sure how to start that conversation. We're all chillin' in my living room, drinking coffee, and I figure that I'm just gonna see where the conversation goes first. "Still Blue Hawaiian?" Warrick asks.

"Of course," I reply.

"You have a lovely home, Greg," Heather says.

"Thank you."

"A little big for one person, though. Don't you agree?"

"I suppose." I sigh, not sure of how to get into this discussion. We all sit rather awkwardly (except for Heather, of course), none of us really knowing how to bring up the topic. I know they won't leave without an answer, and I don't want to prolong this much longer either, but how do you just bring out three years of hell?

"Greg, why'd you leave?" I guess that's a start. Leave it to Nick, though, to be blunt about it. "I held up my end, so it's your turn."

"I know." I sigh softly, looking at everyone in the room. "It started about a month before I left, when I was getting all sorts of tired. Then the fever started and the night sweats, and Nick urged me to go to the doctor and get checked out. I told him that it was probably just a mono relapse, but he said that I should get it checked out anyway. The doctor noticed I was a little jaundiced… not much, but enough to be concerned given the rest of my symptoms and the fact that he noticed some really minor swelling around my neck. He did a complete blood work up and a biopsy, and isolated Sternberg-Reed cells." I pause, looking at everyone. Grissom's eyes give away his shock, and I'm not surprised that he knows what I'm saying. Catherine looks sympathetic, which tells me she knows, too. Everyone else looks mildly clueless, and I swallow. "These, uh, only show up in Hodgkin's lymphoma." The rest of the room joins Catherine and Grissom in sympathy and shock, except for Heather and Hodges. Heather has her eyes closed, squeezing Grissom's hand. Hodges snakes his arm around Wendy's waist, pulling her closer to him.

"Cancer?" Warrick asks. Heather opens her eyes.

"Yeah," I reply. "Doctors don't know what cause that particular type, but they've isolated the Epstein-Barr virus, which also causes mono. At any rate, my doctor referred me to one of the best oncologists in the world… except he lives and practices in Rhode Island. I know this is crazy, but I didn't want you guys to worry about me and I didn't want you to see me go through that. So I handed my resignation in to Ecklie because Grissom'd been out at the time. He asked me why I was resigning, and I told him everything. They weren't sure of my prognosis, whether I was going to make it, all of that stuff, and I told him I was resigning as opposed to disability because I wasn't sure I was coming back from this. He understood, and I asked him not to say anything to you guys. I know now he held up his end pretty well. I went off to Rhode Island, found an apartment, and started treatment."

"Ecklie knew where you were the entire time we were looking for you," Catherine said, sounding upset.

"I told him not to tell you where I was," I say. "It's not that I didn't want you guys to know. I just didn't want the sympathy, the serious talks, all of that. More than anything, I didn't want to see the looks in your eyes when you guys left me, wondering if it would be the last time you'd ever see me alive. I didn't want you guys to watch me waste away. I wanted you guys to remember me as whole and happy, not wasting away to nothing. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Nick says softly. "But why'd you go through it alone? Why didn't you at least talk to us?"

"I wasn't alone, and I thought it'd be easier for you guys if I just left and completely left, not randomly remind you that I still exist and that I left abruptly. Plus, I'd have to explain, and I couldn't without making you all worry." Nick nods. "I wouldn't even let my mom come out and see me. I just… I didn't want anyone to see me like that. She had a friend who had a daughter who lived out there, though, so she got her friend's daughter to check up on me at least once a week to make sure that I was still functioning decently on my own.

"I was diagnosed with Stage I Hodgkin's lymphoma, which means one group of lymph nodes was affected," I tell them. "It took five months to get it under control, and one more to make sure it was completely gone or in remission or whatever before I was cleared to work full time. By that time, my file had been on Ecklie's desk as far as references go, because it had been six months since I left." Everyone glances at Grissom for confirmation, and he nods. "So that's why Grissom didn't know I was in Lakeland. Ecklie called me, though, to tell me that he'd been contacted for a reference, and I told him to handle that like he'd been handling everything else. I liked Lakeland- decent weather, decent surfing nearby, kick ass snowboarding nearby, and a girl I'd fallen deeply in love with, who worked Grave with me and was a CSI 1. I got my master's degree, and also got married about a year and a half ago." I play with the ring on my finger as I speak.

"Congratulations," Sofia says. Everyone throws in their own agreement/congratulations.

"Thanks," I reply, taking a drink of my coffee before I continue. "Her name was Kendall, and she was gorgeous. Long, brownish-blonde hair, long legs, tan, just amazing. What she ever saw in me, I don't know. I guess it was that I was new, different from the others there, and knew so much about everything from having been here. Anyway, we got married surrounded by her family, my parents, and the friends we had out there. It was probably the second happiest day of my life. Nine months later came the happiest, when we were graced with a little bundle from my swimmers and her eggs." I grin, and Warrick shakes his head.

"You had to play it like that, huh?" he says.

"Of course," I reply, still smiling. My smile fades, though, as I get ready to deliver the rest of my story. "We were at a scene that had been cleared, about four months after Emily was born. Some dead body, a rarity for Lakeland as it is. She was in the den, and I was in the guest room. Perp came back, shot her. I went in, he shot me, I killed him. I know, story of my life, right? Killing people? Anyway, we went to the hospital, and… Kendall didn't make it." I sigh softly, licking my lips and fighting back tears. "I took about a month off, came back shortly after the inquiry came back as justifiable. I just, you know, worked and all that. Having Emily helps a bit, knowing part of Kendall's still here." I fall silent, not sure what else to say.

"Where is she now?" Catherine asks. I smile as the door opens and Ecklie walks in with her.

"Good timing," I tell him.

"Thanks," he says, handing her to me.

"You knew about all of this all along, and didn't tell us?" Sara asks Ecklie.

"I learned bits and pieces along the way. I only talked to him once while he was out there and once while he was on his way back here. Nick and Warrick saw him more recently than I had." Sara turns to them.

"We saw him at the Miami convention," Warrick confessed.

"Who was that girl with you when we first saw you?" Nick asks me.

"That was Maria," I say. "CSI level 1 for Lakeland. She came on to replace Kendall, though I didn't hold it against her. We were looking for people to replace me, because Ronnie, my boss, had basically told me that I was heading out as soon as he could find somewhere to send me."

"That's rough, bro." I shrug.

"I'd moped around the offices for three months before the conference, letting things bother me because I was depressed. When I told him I was presenting at the conference, he told me to take Maria with me and find my replacement. I started packing my place that night. I don't blame him, really."

"You told me you weren't unstable," Grissom says.

"I'm stable," I assure him. "The crime scene wasn't too far away from my place, and bein' around there sucked. I took my time getting out here, getting my shit together before I got here. Ask Nick. I worked with him yesterday. Did you think I was unstable?" He shakes his head.

"I knew you weren't okay, but you weren't unstable," Nick says softly. Grissom nods.

"Why couldn't you just say something?" Sara asks softly, almost hurt.

"I didn't want you guys to worry," I reply.

"All we did was worry, Greg! We didn't know where you were, if you were okay, anything like that." I wince at her words.

"I'm sorry, Sara. I'm sorry, everybody. I guess a lot of what I did was selfish, but I didn't want you guys to see me like that, especially if I didn't make it. I didn't want your last memories of me to be some scrawny, pale, sickly guy. I wanted you to remember me as healthy and full of life. I didn't want to hurt you, but I know I did by leaving." I look down at Emily, wondering if she's the only person in the room that doesn't really give a shit.

"It's okay," Nick says softly. I look up at him. "I forgive you. This is gonna sound weird, but I'm kinda glad you spared me from seein' that." I smile softly.

"Me too," Warrick agrees. "You're one of the strongest people I know, so to see you like that probably would've been worse."

"Yeah," Catherine agrees. Everyone but Sara joins with them, and I look at her. She doesn't say anything, choosing to look at the carpet instead of me, and I don't even know what to say.

"So, uh, that's my story," I say, concluding. "So, your turn. What have you guys been up to the past three years?"

"Who first?" Catherine asks.

**_I don't ask for your forgiveness  
I don't care much for your actress  
That's just you though  
Shallow and selfish  
So I go now  
Oh my hollow one today  
_****_If I could change anything  
Then I would change everything_**

* * *

A/N: Reviews?


	9. Chapter 8 Sara

A/N: See previous chapter for disclaimer. I do also own Kendall and Emily. :) The song at the end of this one is "Nothing's Changed" by The Calling, which I do not own. I hope you guys enjoy this one, and please review. :D

* * *

**Crime Scene Scuffles**

Grissom pairs me with Greg next shift on a 419 in Laughlin. Great. I drive out there, and most of the ride is silent. Finally, I look over at him to find him staring out the window. "You okay?" I ask him.

"Fine," he answers quickly. He turns to me. "You mad at me?"

"No. Well, not really."

"But you were."

"When you up and left, yeah."

"I told you I was sorry, Sara. I know I was selfish."

"I know." I sigh, driving.

"Why'd you and Grissom break up?"

"You don't get to ask questions like that, Greg. I'm not ready to let you back in just yet."

"I deserve that," he says softly, staring back out the window.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to trust someone?" I continue. "And to have you leave like that… I trusted you, Greg. I really did." He shakes his head.

"Well, trust aside, last time I checked, you were with Grissom when I left. You weren't with me. You don't get to play jilted lover here, Sara. I waited for you, and you were with him."

"We broke up because of you!"

"Of course you'd pin this on me," he grumbles.

"Dammit, Greg, if you hadn't have left, then I wouldn't have been so upset and I wouldn't have hurt Grissom!" I scream.

"Funny, it looks like he's the one that's okay, and you're the one fucked up."

"Shut up, Greg."

"You started it." We pull up at the scene, and he jumps out before I even stop the Denali. He practically runs over to Sofia, and I walk up behind him.

"Someone's anxious," she jokes.

"Yeah, well I'm ridin' back with you," he tells her.

"Oh, come on. Sara's nice."

"Sure, when she's not attacking me and blaming me for her problems."

"I'm right here, you know," I tell him.

"I'll say it to your face, too," he replies.

"Do I have to break you guys up?" Sofia asks, half kidding.

"If she'll behave, I will." I glare at him.

"I'll leave you here," I threaten.

"Better than riding with you," he returns angrily.

"Enough!" Sofia snaps, forcing us to focus on her. "You guys are at a fucking crime scene. Pull it together." We nod. "Decedent is a 33 year old female named Sandra Jenks," she tells us calmly. Greg takes a deep breath, and I watch him with angry eyes. The prick. "Neighbors heard fighting and called us. Husband's out of town. Police got here, found her dead."

"Let's do this." He's all business as we walk into the house. Sofia hangs around, presumably to stop us from killing one another and sticking her with a new crime scene on top of the old one.

"You print, I'll photo," I say. He nods, getting to work. Neither of us say anything, and I feel remorse start to settle in. I'm with a guy who lost his wife and battled lymphoma, and I'm fighting with him and blaming him for everything. How selfish am I? I sigh softly, glancing at Sofia briefly before looking at Greg. "Greg?" I break the silence. He sighs deeply.

"Yeah?" he replies, his voice weak.

"I'm sorry." He shakes his head.

"Forget it." His voice seems even weaker, and I watch as he kneels down. I walk over to him.

"You feeling okay?" I ask, putting my hand on his shoulder. He nods slowly, his eyes closed tightly. "You're really pale, Greg."

"I'll be okay," he tells me.

"Let's step outside for a minute." He agrees, and I help him up. We walk outside, and he sits on the steps. I sit next to him, still with my arm around him. "What happened in there?"

"I got dizzy, I guess. I don't know."

"Did you eat something today?"

"At some point, I think." Sofia appears at his side with a cup of orange juice.

"Here," she says, handing it to him. "Your blood sugar's probably low."

"Thanks," he says, taking a drink from it. I rub him softly on the back, feeling even more guilty. "Stop guilt tripping yourself, Sara. What happened in there has nothing to do with you."

"You're lying," I say.

"No, I'm not," he replies, his voice stronger. "Believe me, it doesn't."

"Greg, tell me the truth. Are you still sick?"

"No. I promise, Sara, that I'm okay. I just don't remember eating much of anything today. I had to take Emily for her check up today, then I had an appointment, and then I had to feed and clean her, and I had to find a baby sitter too."

"So you didn't eat."

"Not really. I'm still trying to settle here and get back in sync. I promise you I'm okay."

"Okay." He stands up.

"Ready to go back in?"

"If you are." He nods, and we walk back into the house. We finish processing, and we get everything in the car. "You sure you're okay?" I ask him. He's been silent ever since we sat on the steps.

"I'm fine," he replies. "I don't talk much when I'm processing."

"You used to before."

"I've changed a lot in three years, Sara."

"With all due respect, Greg, I'd rather have the old you back."

"That makes two of us," he whispers. I look over at him, and he keeps his face stoic.

"I'm sorry about fighting earlier."

"I told you, forget about it."

"No. How selfish and horrible am I that I'm picking fights with you when you're the one that's been to hell and back over these past three years?"

"Sara, I don't give a shit. It's who you are. Not selfish and horrible, but angry and bitter toward people who betrayed you. I betrayed you. I know I fucked up. I never dreamt that if I saw you again, you'd be welcoming me with open arms. I know better. So don't worry your pretty little head. You be you."

"And where does that leave you?"

"Trying to find me again."

**_Though we falter, we don't have to fall  
And I can see that nothing's changed at all  
Even when I was young  
And the pressure was on  
_****_You always told me to do my thing  
So what the hell went wrong?_**


	10. Chapter 9 Catherine

A/N: For disclaimer, see previous chapter. Immense thanks to my beta, lostladyknight... you rock:D Song at the end of this is "Scars" by Papa Roach, which I do not own, nor do I own Glitter (the movie), which gets referenced briefly. Other than that, I think I don't have anything else to say, so enjoy and please review. :)

* * *

**Break Room Scuffles and Locker Room Troubles**

Sara and Greg sit silently in the break room, and I know that now would probably be the best time to talk to them about what happened at the scene. I slam my binder down onto the counter, causing them to jump and look at me. "What the hell is going on between you two?" I ask.

"It's my fault," Greg says first. "It's because of what I did."

"What'd you do?" I turn to him, and notice he's getting angry.

"I left three years ago. Isn't that enough?"

"No." This isn't going to be good if he continues.

"It's all me, Catherine, not her."

"She's still holding a grudge, Greg." I look at her, watching her shift on the couch. She still hasn't said anything, and Greg won't shut up.

"I knew she was upset, and I pushed her anyway. It's my fault, okay? It's all my fault. So why doesn't everyone just pin their fucking problems on me and make yourselves all feel better. Oh, and I caused global warming, nuclear holocausts, Anthrax, control the weather, AND wrote the screenplay to Glitter! Are you happy now? I bet you could pin your entire case on me too!" Hodges walks in during Greg's peculiar rant, and Greg doesn't let him get away cleanly. "You have something you want to pin on me too, Hodges? Maybe if something goes wrong with Wendy you'll throw me under the bus, because that's all I'm fucking good for! Being everyone's beacon of hate!"

"You okay, Sanders?" Hodges asks softly. He's as shell shocked as the rest of us.

"Fucking peachy," he snaps. We all look at each other as he storms out. Hodges looks at Sara, then me.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"I don't know," I tell him. "Sara, what exactly happened at the scene?"

"We were fighting in the car, and it carried over in front of Sofia. Once we started processing, we were quiet. I apologized, he told me to forget it. He almost passed out on the scene, though. He said we were okay, Catherine."

"Wait, he almost passed out?"

"Yeah, low blood sugar…" Her voice trails off, and she jumps up, running out after Greg. We get to the locker room to find him on the floor, out cold.

"Greg!"

"Catherine, get him something to eat," Sara says. I nod, running back into the break room and grabbing him an apple. I come back in, and Sara has him sitting up against one of the lockers. I give him the apple, and he thanks me.

"When was the last time you ate?" I ask him.

"I think I had something at some point today," he replies, biting the apple.

"I told you to eat when we got back," Sara says.

"I forgot. I got caught up in the case." She shook her head.

"You're not going to be much help if you don't eat something more than an apple." He nods slowly. "We'll go grab something in a minute, okay?" He nods again, and I smile softly at her. She can be so maternal sometimes, it amazes me. "You dizzy? Hit your head at all?"

"No, I'm okay. I can get up." He stands and Sara helps him. They sit on the bench for a moment, and he sighs. "I'm pathetic."

"Don't start this again," I warn him.

"How's Hodges?" he asks.

"He's Hodges. He'll be fine."

"I don't know where that came from."

"Low blood sugar increases the tendency for aggression," Sara says. I nod.

"Well, I'm still sorry," he says.

"As long as you're okay, it's cool. Now, let's get some real food in you, okay?" He nods, and the two of them stand up and start to leave like there never was a problem between them. Almost like they had been before Greg left. I shrug. I just hope he'll be okay. Warrick comes up to me as I remain in the locker room, staring at where they had been.

"You okay?" he asks me softly.

"Fine," I reply. He looks at me critically.

"What's up?"

"I'm just worried about Greg."

"We all are."

"He almost passed out twice tonight."

"I'd heard that rumor. But Cath, you gotta trust he'll be okay. He needs to come to us. We can't badger him into taking our help." I nod, knowing he's right. I sigh.

"I just wish there was more we could do."

"Me too." He hugs me gently, and I return it. "He'll be okay. He'll come to us when he's ready."

"Yeah, but the waiting sucks. I know he's hurting, Warrick."

"Yeah, I see it too. But we can't rush him."

"Yeah, I know. I hope he's not getting sick again."

"What makes you think he is?"

"He almost passed out twice tonight. I know Sara said something about him not having eaten, but I don't know if that's it."

"Did he really flip out in the break room?" I nod. "I would bet Sara was right. Low blood sugar can make a person agitated."

"Yeah, I know."

"He eats, he'll be okay. He's stressed and trying to settle."

"What if that brings everything back?" I ask. He kisses me softly on the temple.

"Then we'll deal with it," he tells me. "Wondering what will happen isn't going to help with what is happening. You've gotta let things come, Cath, or you'll make yourself sick."

"Yeah, I guess."

**_I saw you going down  
But you never realized  
_****_That you're drowning in the water  
So I offered you my hand  
Compassion's in my nature_**


	11. Chapter 10 Grissom

A/N: See previous chapter for disclaimer. Song at the end is "Superman (It's Not Easy)" by Five for Fighting, which I do not own. Steven Manes (new in this chapter) is mine. Thanks to my wonderful beta, lostladyknight. On another note, my apologies for messing up one of the song lyrics back in the beginning of the story. This chapter is Greg's level 3 proficiency... let's hope he passes! ;) Enjoy, and please review.

* * *

**Final Proficiency**

"Okay, gang," I say as I enter the break room. "Greg, you're with me doing your final proficiency."

"Okay," he replies. "What do I got?"

"Double. No idea about vics yet." He nods. "Nick and Catherine, you guys have a robbery. Sara and Warrick, home invasion. Be careful out there tonight. It's pouring."

"Yes, Daddy," Nick retorts. I roll my eyes. I swear, that's been his favorite joke since I got married. Greg gets up and we leave. On the drive to the scene, I turn to him.

"You're completely in charge here," I tell him. "For this, I'm another CSI, I'm not your boss. You're gonna first blush, process, run it, everything. It's your show." He nods, completely silent. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he replies. "I'm just… focusing on the road. It's raining, I've had a long day, and the last thing I want to do is get into an accident." I nod slowly.

"Anything I can do?" He smiles and laughs slightly.

"Hope this is an easy one." I chuckle as we arrive at the scene. We climb out and find a young cop puking outside the tape. The smile on his face fades. "Guess that's one more lost hope," he mutters. I look over at him as we duck under the tape and Jim reaches us. "What's up?"

"Mom and kid dead. Neighbors saw someone break the window and called the cops." We move toward the house as Greg nods.

"Coroner pronounce?" Jim looks at me as if to ask why Greg's running it, and I just stare back.

"He's not here yet." Greg nods again as we get inside. We enter the living room to find the body of what used to be a six-year-old girl. The mother was face down on the carpet, looking like she'd been killed while checking her daughter. Greg sighs deeply before putting his kit down and taking out a pair of gloves. I take out a pair myself, and Jim looks even more curious.

"Level 3 proficiency," I explain.

"He needs one?" Jim replies.

"When he transferred, he was a level 2 with the qualifications of a 3. I wasn't going to promote him right away, so he has to take a proficiency." He nods. Greg squats down for a moment, and then stands again.

"Okay, first blush," he says. "Guy breaks the window, smothers the kid, then chops her up. Mom comes down stairs, guy shoots her to keep her quiet." I nod slightly.

"Smothered?" I ask him.

"Cyanosis of the lips and fingers, and I had a scene like this once." There's more to his story than that, but I don't push it because I know he won't say anything. Instead, I nod, agreeing with his reasoning. "Guy then probably hears the sirens, runs out the back door and hops fences, cuts through yards, maybe even just walks out of someone else's backyard to make it seem like he lived there." I nod again. I knew there was a reason I already arranged for his party. David finally comes in.

"Sorry," he says quietly. "Busy night."

"No problem, Super Dave," Greg replies. David sighs and shakes his head.

"Sick."

"Yeah."

"Makes me want to go home and kiss my own." Greg doesn't respond, and David ignores it anyway, choosing to get to work. "Okay, mother was shot three times in the back. Lividity suggests she wasn't moved." He sticks the thermometer in her as Greg snaps pictures of the scene. "Liver temp's 98.1, so she's been dead for less than an hour. You get a shot of her already? Because I have to move her to get to the kid."

"Yeah, it's set." David moves the mother slightly, and Greg takes pictures of the little girl.

"I'd say she was five or six, COD probably asphyxiation, smothered most likely. Then the body was mutilated." Greg stops taking pictures for a moment.

"Crime of passion?" We all shrug. "And if so, why the kid and not the mother?"

"That's for you to figure out," I remind him.

"Yeah, I know," he says. "So, I got this room. Check in the guest room over there." I look at him curiously. How did he know it was a guest room? "I told you, I had a scene like this once." I nod, walking into the guest room and processing it. We finish our respective rooms and meet up by the stairs. "House has a basement, two floors. No evidence suggests our perp went anywhere but the first floor, but I want you to check the second floor anyway, to be thorough, maybe see what Mom was up to before finding her daughter. I'll cover the rest of the first floor. Meet me back here when you're finished. We'll do the perimeter." I nod, going upstairs. I process the rooms upstairs, finding nothing that says the perpetrator went up there. Mom, apparently, was reading in bed, as shown by a book on the nightstand held open by reading glasses. I find the little girl's room, and a ruffled bed. I finish upstairs, walking down and meeting Greg.

"Mom was reading," I tell him. "Daughter was in bed, by the looks of her room." He nods.

"So, Mom's enjoying her book, daughter comes down stairs, maybe for a glass of water. Cuts through the den, guy is waiting for her, breaks in and smothers her." He pauses, shaking his head. "Mom hears the commotion, comes downstairs, checks on her daughter and gets shot while doing it." He sighs softly. "Let's go check the outside." I nod, following him out the front. "I'll go this way, you go that way, and we'll meet out back." I nod at his pointing and go off the way he indicated. I process my side and meet him in the backyard. We comb it before going back around to the front without a word and searching that. We stop at the front step, and he sighs.

"Any change of theory?" I ask him.

"Evidence says guy came in, smothered the kid, shot the mom, left out the back," he says. "Prints hint that he jumped a fence somewhere, but no landing impact on the other yard." I raise my eyebrows. "I looked. So he probably climbed off slowly and didn't make prints in the other yard." I nod. "Guy caught his pants on a nail… found fibers on one going into the neighbors' yard, the one behind the house. So he probably jumped out and walked onto the other street. No one knows the difference."

"Those fibers could be from something else."

"Yeah, I know. Gut instinct tells me it's the perp, though." I shrug. "I know, gut instincts don't hold up in court. Footprints do, though, and they go from the house to the fence, so the guy definitely went back there. I also lifted some hand prints from the fence, on either side of the nail." I nod. "So, to answer your question- no, theory hasn't changed. It's almost exactly like a case I had a few months ago, except…" He doesn't finish his thought, and I look over at him. He looks like he's worried he said too much.

"Except what?" I ask, prodding softly. He sighs.

"There was another victim in that case. That's what's missing from this one." I nod, knowing by his tone that there's more to it than he's telling me.

"What are you hiding?" He looked at me.

"What makes you think I'm hiding something?"

"You're tone of voice."

"I'm not hiding anything." Another lie. I shake my head, knowing one day he'll tire of these cover ups. We pack up our evidence and bring it to the lab to process. I go to my office as he goes into the break room. I sit at my desk, wondering what I'm getting into with him. He's going to need a lot of help, starting with someone making him crack. As I continue thinking, Hodges pokes his head in my doorway.

"Grissom?" he asks softly.

"Yes, Hodges?" I reply. Sometimes he can be so insufferable.

"How's Sanders doing?" I look at him, confused. "I mean, today's Mother's Day, he has a kid without a mom anymore, and his final proficiency. How's he doing?"

"He's doing fine. I can't discuss specifics with you, though." He nods, seemingly satisfied.

"Good. I'm glad." He turns to leave.

"Why?"

"Why what?" He turns back to me.

"Why do you care?"

"Because, Wendy likes him. I'd hate to see her suffer because he's killing himself." I nod with a smile, and he realizes quickly that I see right through his lie.

"So you do have a heart in there."

"Yeah, right. I'll see you later." I nod, watching him leave. Some time later, Greg appears at my door.

"Grissom," he starts. "Mandy has our results, as does Wendy." I stand, following him into the print lab first.

"So, I got a hit in the FBI database," she begins. "A set in the house and the set from the fence came from an Detective Steven Manes, formerly of Lakeland PD."

"Homicide," Greg says. Mandy nods.

"Others belonged to the victims."

"Okay. Thanks, Mandy."

"No sweat." We walk out, and I look at Greg.

"Someone you worked with?" I ask. He doesn't answer, walking into the DNA lab before he gets the chance.

"Blood on the floor and tracked about is consistent with the victims," Wendy says. "The blood on the broken glass, however, I need a reference for. Nothing came from CODIS." Greg sighs. "Sorry."

"Nothing to apologize for," he tells her. "Thanks, Wendy."

"No problem." We walk out of the lab, and he turns to me.

"So, who is Officer Manes?" I ask before he can get a word in. He sighs.

"Homicide detective," he replies. "I worked with him for about two years out there. He left the force about six months before I was transferred."

"He have a grudge?"

"Not that I know of. Last I knew he was taking a job in Seattle. What the hell is he doing here in Vegas?"

"I don't know."

"Well, fingerprints give us reason enough to call him in. We need a warrant for his gun, his DNA, his shoes, and his clothes. That is, if he's not willing to give them up freely." I nod. "First, though, we pull his credit cards, because if he's here in Vegas, he's gotta be staying at a hotel. His last known address, according to Mandy's print out, is in Seattle. We find where he's staying, and then pick him up." I nod again. I watch as he goes off to do as he told me. I go into the break room, and Ecklie follows me in.

"Gil," he says.

"Conrad?" I reply, pouring myself a cup of coffee.

"How's Greg doing?"

"Fine. He's a good CSI, Conrad. He's gonna pass." He nods.

"I heard he might be connected to the suspect."

"Someone he worked with. He's fine, Conrad. Leave it alone."

"Just be careful, Gil." He walks out, and I shake my head. Dick. Greg walks in a moment later.

"Okay, so I pulled his credit cards," he says. "He's staying at the Lucky Seven. Brass and the PD are on their way over there to grab him." I nod.

"Let's head over to the police station, then," I say.

"Okay." We get over there and wait for Jim to bring the guy in. Once he's in the interrogation room, I look at Greg.

"Your show," I tell him. He nods, entering the room. I follow him in.

"Detective Manes," he addresses the suspect.

"CSI Sanders," he replies. Jim moves next to me.

"They know each other?" he whispers to me.

"They worked together in Lakeland," I reply. Jim nods, and we both look back at Greg and Manes.

"We meet again in interrogation," Manes says.

"Yeah," Greg says. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? We found your fingerprints in the house and on the back fence. That puts you at the scene."

"Yeah, I was there. They're friends of mine."

"Can I see your clothes?"

"Let's cut the foreplay, okay, Sanders? You don't need to try to bury me with the evidence and prove it like that. I'll tell you I did it. And I bet you wanna know why. And even if you don't, you're finding out anyway."

"You don't have to explain."

"Really? You like the scene, Sanders? Did it strike a cord with you? Kill you a little more inside? You should've been killed that day, not Kendall. You didn't know how to treat her right."

"You're just pissed at me because I could give her everything you couldn't."

"Oh, give it up, Sanders. You were a sinking ship that she felt sorry for. She took a chance on you because you're pathetic. She was nothing more than a whore anyway." Greg lunged at him, and Jim caught him quickly. Manes stood up. "Scene remind you of that night? I was trying so hard. Little girl, smothered and mutilated. Looked like the girl that night. And the mother… she looked just like Kendall, didn't she?" Greg is growing angry, and I take Jim's place at holding him back. Manes turns to me. "Wondering how he knew about the guest room? Knew exactly where to look? Because I made the scene just like the night he failed to save his wife. He killed another man, the suspect." He turns back to Greg. "You killed my brother that night." Greg swallows, and I can feel him calming down. "You killed him, and you didn't have to! You failed to save your wife, so you took my brother!"

"He shot me too," Greg says calmly. "I did what I had to do. Inquiry deemed it justifiable."

"You killed a kid out here. Was that justifiable too?"

"Excusable."

"You're a dirty cop, Sanders. You're a loose cannon with a gun, and I hope to God that one of these days, someone stops you before you murder someone."

"Hey, I didn't smother a little girl and shoot the mother to get back at someone. I never meant to kill Demitrius James, nor did I mean to kill your brother. I would apologize, if he hadn't tried to take my life in the first place. I was in danger, so I shot him. He was a murderer before me."

"Intention only matters between murder 1 and 2. You're a dirty cop."

"I've never killed an innocent person." Greg's growing agitated, and I grab his shoulder gently.

"Demitrius wasn't innocent? He was a good kid."

"You didn't know him. If you knew anything about the case, you'd know that he was a part of the gang beating Stanley Tanner to death. I drove in to stop him, and he came toward my car with a brick. I freaked, and I hit him. He came at me first, though."

"That's always your alleged defense. You're a dirty cop, Sanders."

"But you're the one going to jail. Murder 1." Greg nods at Jim, who turns to a uniform standing outside.

"Arrest Detective Manes for the murder of…" Jim begins. Greg walks out of the room, and I chase after him.

"Greg," I call. He slows to a stop at the Denali, climbing into the passenger's side. I climb behind the wheel. "What was that?"

"Nothing," he replies.

"Greg, you know you can't go after suspects like that."

"God dammit, Grissom. He was baiting me!"

"Are you going to fall for it every time a suspect baits you?"

"He did this just to rattle me!"

"And you let it work."

"I'm sorry, but unlike you, I have emotions. I feel like shit when people come after me like that. It's personal."

"You can't afford to let it be personal." I know this isn't making any sense, but I'm trying to bait him to make him crack.

"Are you listening to yourself? That's complete bullshit, Grissom, and you know it! You've flipped out on people before when it wasn't fucking personal! He fucking made this personal. He fucking toyed with me, just to hurt me, and you're fucking defending him!" We pull up at the crime lab, and he jumps out. He rushes away from me and inside quickly, on a warpath. I shrug as if nothing happened and walk into my office to finish up for his party.

**_It's not easy to be me  
I wish that I could cry  
_****_Fall upon my knees  
Find a way to lie_**


	12. Chapter 11 Greg

A/N: See last chapter for disclaimer. Song at the end is "Brick" by Ben Folds Five, which I don't own. This chapter takes place right after Greg parts from Grissom, and I'm sorry this is so late, but I've had computer issues. Anyway, grab a tissue or two (hint hint), enjoy, and please review. :)

* * *

**Final Proficiency, The Aftermath**

I storm into the locker room, fuming over… well, every fucking thing. Grissom being such an ass over nothing, assholes of the world… What the hell was Grissom yelling at me for? It's not like Nick's hasn't ever done that, or Sara, or Catherine, or Warrick. Hell, I think even Grissom's flipped on suspects before. So why the hell was he lecturing me about it?

And then there's the crime. How the fuck could someone do that to a little girl? A poor, defenseless, helpless child! I plop on the bench, feeling my anger draining and being replaced by sadness. A child. A little girl. This wasn't just done for the hell of it. Even that would feel better to me than finding out the motive was to get back at me. I feel guilty that this little girl died. And the mother, sees her dead daughter and gets killed herself, on Mother's day. What the fucking hell kind of a world do we live in?

It was exactly like the night my wife was murdered. To a T. As the images of the crime scene tonight morph into the images the night my wife died, I feel tears sting my eyes. Kendall. My dear, sweet Kendall. Murdered in cold blood, for no reason other than the guy thought it might be fun. I shake my head, crying harder. This would've been her first Mother's day. She should be spending it with Emily, not buried in a box some 2500 miles away.

I punch my locker in frustration. And again, because it wasn't enough the first time. I bring my legs into my chest, wrapping my arms around them. My knuckles are bruised, gushing blood, and I'm sitting in front of my locker, crying like a baby for the first time since my wife's funeral services. Crying would upset the baby, and I didn't want to do that, so I just pretended everything was okay and when I wanted to cry, I went to sleep. It worked so well… until I got out here. Anyway, Nick walks in, finding me like that.

"Hey, you know, you might wanna take it out on somethin' that can fight back," he jokes, not having noticed me crying. I say nothing, trying to stop myself from crying. I don't like crying in front of people. Sue me. "Hey, what's wrong?" I shake my head. I don't trust my voice to say anything. "You know, one of these days you're gonna have to say somethin' to one of us." He sits next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. I sigh, nodding slowly before taking a deep breath.

"Our scene?" I start softly.

"Yeah?" he replies, concern in his voice.

"Six year old girl, smothered and mangled. Mother shot clean through."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"That's tough, especially for a proficiency."

"We didn't know much until we got there. That's not even the worst part."

"Okay, sorry. Continue, man."

"Okay. Now, it's bad enough that a kid was smothered and then mangled. The mother was shot while checking on her."

"That's tough."

"When I was in Lakeland, we had a rare DB, my wife and I. Ended up being a six-year-old girl, smothered and mangled. I was in the guest room while Kendall was in the den with the body. The perp came back to the scene, shot her clean through while she was looking over the body. I came in… saw exactly what I saw tonight." Tears choke off my voice, and he squeezes my shoulder. "Only tonight was set up by some fucking bastard I worked with in Lakeland!" I go to punch the locker, only to have Nick stop me.

"Hey, your hand's already bleedin' and prolly broken. Punchin' a locker's a really bad idea." I nod, sighing. "So, your case tonight was done by a guy you worked with?"

"Yeah, a detective. Apparently, the night my wife died, I shot and killed his brother for shooting and killing my wife." I sniffle, and Nick rubs me on the back. "I can't believe she's gone." I start crying, and Nick hugs me gently, continuing to rub me on the back.

"Let it out, man."

"I miss her, you know? Every day. Waking up beside her, smelling her sweet scent, the way she'd take care of Emily. Seeing her eyes light up when she gets excited. Feeling the warmth of her laying next to me. She should be spending this day with Emily, not buried underground on the other side of the fucking country!" I begin to cry a little harder, and Nick hugs me tighter, trying to rub small circles to calm me. We both know it's really not working, but I try calming anyway.

"It's okay, man. Let it out." His suggestion is all I need before I break completely down into hysterical sobs. He utters soft reassurances, telling me it's okay, that everything'll be fine, that I need to let this out. And I can barely hear him over myself, but as I calm down a little, I hear someone running interference at the door. I stop crying, taking a deep, shaky breath as I sit up and move away from Nick.

"Thanks for being here," I whisper, my voice hoarse after sobbing.

"I told you, man," he says softly. "I'm always here for you." I nod, looking to the door to find that the entire time, Warrick had been running the interference, and still is. I smile softly. I'm on the best team in the country, hands down. He walks in after giving me a little time to relax.

"Greg, Grissom wants you in his office, now," Warrick says softly. I nod, standing up and walking with the two of them to our boss's office. He peers at us from the other side of his desk.

"Congratulations, Greg," he says.

"Congratulations?" I reply, confused. "For what?"

"You solved the case, you opened up to someone, and you passed your proficiency."

"I passed? But all that stuff you said…"

"Was a lie. I said it to make you talk. Looks like it worked." I groan softly.

"You're an ass for that."

"Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind." Catherine and Sara walk in with Ecklie.

"Congratulations, Sanders," he says. I smile slightly.

"Thanks, Ecklie," I reply. Nick, Warrick, Catherine, and Sara all offer their congrats, and Grissom hands me over the badge. "You had this planned, didn't you?"

"Proficiency was a formality," Grissom tells me. "I knew you'd pass."

"What if I didn't?" He laughs.

"You're a great CSI, Greg." I smile softly.

"Thanks, Grissom." We all move the party into the break room so we can get soda, other drinks, and some cake. Sara tugs my arm gently, pulling me aside.

"I know I've been an ass," she says softly. Where is she going with this? "But I know you've been through a lot lately, and I'm really sorry I've been a jerk. I want you to know that I'm here for you, for anything, if you need me." I nod softly.

"Thanks, Sara," I tell her softly. "I want you to know that you can trust me. I left without a word, and I'm sorry, but I'm still Greg, still the person you trusted before I left. I'm a little different, but if anything, it's more dependable. Or, at least it will be when I sort myself out." She smiles slightly.

"I know." She hugs me softly and whispers in my ear, "Congratulations on Level 3, Greg."

"Thanks, Sara," I whisper back, not wanting to let go of her. She squeezes me gently, and I smile. She lets go of me, and leans back.

"Why don't you pick up Emily and swing by my place? I'll make breakfast."

"Sounds great. I'll bring my own bacon." She laughs, and I smile wider.

"Okay." She says her goodbyes to the team and leaves. I thank everyone for their well-wishes once again before departing myself and heading home to my daughter.

**_She broke down  
_****_And I broke down  
'_****_Cause I was tired  
Of lying_**


	13. Chapter 12 Wendy

A/N: I do not own CSI, CBS, or any other known entity, including "Hundred" by The Fray, which is the song at the end of the chapter. The Lakeland team, Kendall and Emily Sanders (in first names only), Sandra Berman, Steven Manes, Melanie and John Drier (both mentioned this chapter), Carmen Michaels (mentioned this chapter), and James Johnson (also mentioned this chapter) are all mine. Many thanks to my wonderful beta, lostladyknight. :)

Sorry that updates have been slow, but life and computer issues have gotten in the way. I hope to be a little better at making these regular in the future. This chapter provides background on the past three years (and somewhat before), but I will also tell you to remember this chapter later on... and that's my only hint. Hehehe. : (my evil face). Enjoy, and please review!

* * *

**Conversations Over Machines and Samples**

Greg walks into my lab and closes the door behind him. I look up from the machine I'm working with briefly to see him. "Your results aren't ready yet," I tell him, looking back at my work.

"I'm not here for that," he replied. I look up at him again after pressing start on the machine.

"What are you here for?"

"I need your help, Wendy."

"On?" He sighs.

"I need a new babysitter."

"And you want my help because you want to know who I hire because you know they're good." He nods. "I don't hire one."

"I thought you have a kid."

"Step kid, kinda."

"Wait, it's Hodges' kid?" I nod. "Who's the mommy?"

"Carmen Michaels, the girl he was seeing when you were still here. Remember her?" He nods, and I continue. "She was murdered not that long after you left. Haunts Hodges to this day. He was almost killed too." Carmen and Hodges had been sleeping when their house had been broken into. Carmen was stabbed to death, Hodges called for help and was stabbed himself. Sara and Catherine were the investigators, caught the guy, and buried him because there was that much evidence. He confessed on the spot, and is waiting for his turn for the injection. It took Hodges a while, but he moved on about two years ago with me. I moved in about a year and a half ago to help him out.

"No wonder he's been nicer." I shrug.

"People change. Sometimes from the right causes, sometimes not."

"So, you just help him out?"

"I'm his girlfriend. I live with him. Taking care of her comes with the territory."

"That must be hard."

"She's four. She doesn't understand about her daddy and mommy."

"Does she think you're her mommy?"

"No, she knows I'm not. She knows I'm Wendy, I'm daddy's girlfriend."

"I can't believe you guys live together."

"Well, Mandy and Henry lived together for a while." The machine beeps, and I print out the results. Nick and Catherine's case. I roll my chair over to work on Greg's sample because the sooner I do, the sooner he leaves me alone. As much as I like having him back, I don't know how much more of this me and Hodges conversation I can have.

"Really?"

"You didn't know they were together? They got together before you left." He shakes his head.

"I wasn't paying much attention before I left. I was concerned about the shit growing and spreading in my body." I frown.

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Thankful for the subject change away from Hodges and myself, I continue with their story.

"They started dating about a month before you left, moved in together shortly after. Not to bring you down, but Mandy was pretty depressed after you left. Henry was worried about her, so he had her move in with him. They broke up about five months ago, and he left not too long after."

"They have problems working with each other or something?" I shrug.

"There was some tension in the lab. It wasn't bad, it was tolerable, but it was still there."

"So, bad break up, then?" Greg asks, though it comes out as more of a statement.

"They were three feet from the altar," I reply. "Engaged. Then something happened, I'm not sure what, and they broke up. He transferred to Hawaii shortly there after."

"Really? They were engaged?"

"Oh, yeah. We had their bachelor/bachelorette parties, her bridal shower, everything. I was supposed to be the maid of honor, because her sisters were married. Then about three weeks before the wedding, they called it off."

"Did he cheat? She cheat?"

"I don't know for sure, because Mandy doesn't talk about it, but rumor has it either Ecklie or Nick got in the way."

"Now, wait a minute. Ecklie I could understand, but Nick?"

"Well, people say that Nick kind of had a thing for her, and it was returned, but he got with someone else, so she went to Henry. Nick's girlfriend dumped him, and Mandy was still with Henry for a little while, but as Nick's getting over the heartache, Henry dumps Mandy and leaves."

"Did he dump her before applying for the transfer or after?"

"Before."

"So he left to get away from her?"

"That's the assumption. It's hard to face someone every day that you were engaged to. And it didn't help that Ecklie was practically pushing them out the door or to another shift. One or the other, that's what he kept telling them. Henry figured Mandy was a better asset to the lab and he didn't want to go to another shift, so he applied to transfer. He always wanted to go to Hawaii, and now was as good a time as any. After working here, any lab would jump at the chance to have him."

"So he ran, almost."

"Almost. But he keeps in touch and visited not that long ago." He groans.

"Ouch, babe."

"It's not a dig, hon, I'm just saying." I look over at Greg again, noticing him slouching against the wall. "I'm really glad you're back, Greg."

"Yeah, me too." I smile. "So, what other lab drama did I miss?" I roll my eyes softly as I go back to my work. Gossip queen.

"Well, no one knows for sure, but everyone figures Catherine and Warrick are together. And Lindsey's deciding on a college, which is stressing Catherine out."

"That's right, she's 18 now. How's that going?" He completely missed that first statement. Either that, or he doesn't care. People have been thinking they were together for way longer than I've been here.

"It's been interesting. She's thinking about staying around here, it's all she's ever known. She's saying she's interested in either pre-med or nursing because she wants to help people, but she prefers the living. She shadowed Tina, Warrick's ex, once."

"Yeah. Hey, wait, Warrick got divorced?" I nod. "When?"

"He had filed the day you left."

"Huh."

"I remember he came in, and he was in such a bad mood. He was the one that found your note, and he just kinda let it out on Catherine in the locker room. I thought you'd heard about the divorce." Greg frowns and shrugs.

"I got an email about two and a half, three years ago from Nick. I never opened it to read what it said. I'm sorry I happened to choose that day and that he had to find it."

"You didn't know. You couldn't have known. No one knew he was filing, not even Nick, and Nick's his best friend."

"Why'd they get divorced?" I shrug, still working on the variety of cases in front of me while waiting for Greg's results.

"No one knows for sure, but rumor has it she was cheating on him."

"With Nick?" I laugh.

"No. The thought was John Drier, the day shift guy. Him and Warrick got into a fight in the locker room about three weeks before you left. You weren't around for that, though, because I think you were on vacation and everything had blown over by the time you got back, so I don't know if you heard about it. Punches were thrown, things were heated, Nick and James Johnson, the other day shift guy, broke things up."

"I had no idea. How'd the fight start?" he asks, intrigued. I can't believe no one told him this at the time.

"Well, Tina happened to be pregnant," I tell him.

"You're kidding."

"Nope."

"Warrick's kid?"

"DNA later confirmed that it was, but John was telling Melanie Drier-"

"Wife?"

"Sister-in-law. You really didn't know day shift that well, did you?"

"Not really. Back to your story…"

"Right. He was telling Mel that his girlfriend, Tina, was pregnant, and Mel told him that he better watch his back. Said that it was dangerous to be talking about Tina around the lab because he'd never know when he'd run into her husband. Mel knew Tina and Warrick were married because she was here when it happened. John came on later, because he's her husband's little brother, and he had been transferring from Cheyenne or something. And Mel never felt obligated to tell Warrick about Tina cheating with John because her and Warrick had a falling out years ago over a crime. You may remember it, the one where her husband was implicated, with the axe and the rat poison?"

"Uh… was that the one with the old couple?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Wow, that was a while ago. That was before Sara even got here. They never patched things up?"

"Apparently not. Anyway, John didn't know that Warrick was Tina's husband, and Mel left the locker room. John's all excited about the possibility of being a father, didn't know he was the other man in relation to Tina's marriage, told Warrick, and Warrick put together the clues."

"This true or circumstantial?"

"I told you, this is all rumor-driven. That caused Warrick and John to come to blows, and Nick and James were left to clean up the mess. Not long after, Warrick was filing for divorce, which looked real good to certain members of the lab who knew Tina was pregnant but didn't know she was cheating on Warrick. After the child was born, Warrick had a DNA test to prove paternity, and it was his, so he fought for custody and that put him back in better standing with some of the asses who weren't happy with him divorcing her in the first place."

"Right. So, where's the kid now?"

"With Warrick. Tina took off about a year ago, dumped the kid in the lab. Crawled her way into Trace with Hodges, who called Warrick to tell him the kid was there. Tina shoved a note in the kid's pocket saying that she was leaving and starting over somewhere else. Starting over meant no kid."

"Damn. Warrick didn't mention any of this the other night."

"That's not really a surprise. It's still a bit of a sore spot for him."

"Gotcha. Did he have a boy or a girl?"

"Like you and Hodges both, he has a daughter. Just turned two not that long ago, maybe four months." He nods, and the machine testing his sample beeps. Saved by the beeper. I grab the printout as it comes out of the printer. "Semen matches your victim," I tell him. He pauses his movements, looking confused.

"That's impossible. The victim's a woman." I look at him, confused for a moment before laughing.

"Who's packing a little more than most." He shakes his head, chuckling softly.

"Welcome to Vegas."

_**It's hard, I must confess  
**__**Now I'm banking on the rest  
To clear away  
'Cause we have spoken everything**_


	14. Chapter 13 Nick

A/N: Sorry about slow updates... computer and internet problems. Bleh. Anyway, I don't own CSI, CBS, or any other known entity. I can tell you that I have a few more tricks up my sleeve before this is over, and to expect a lot more haha. As always, thank you to my wonderful beta, lostladyknight. Song at the end of the chapter is "Crash and Burn" by Savage Garden, which I do not own. Enjoy and please review:D

* * *

**Locker Room Counseling**

I'm chillin' on the bench in the locker room, talkin' to my brother before work on the phone. We hang up as Sara walks in. "What's up, Buttercup?" I say, smilin'. She chuckles, opening her locker and getting ready for work.

"Not much, Honeybunch," she replies, causin' me to laugh.

"Same here."

"How's your brother?"

"He's good. He and his wife are adoptin' a kid."

"Really?"

"Well, I told you how they couldn't have kids 'cause he had issues, but she really wanted kids, so he thought that instead of havin' someone populate the Earth with another one, they'd take one that was already here."

"That's pretty cool of them."

"Yeah, that's my brother for ya. So, you're in a good mood." She smiles.

"I had a really great night last night."

"Oh yeah? Tell me about it."

"Well, I hung out with Greg last night."

"Yeah?"

"We played Scrabble. Well, more like I kicked his ass in Scrabble." I laugh.

"That doesn't surprise me."

"It was a blast. Emily was sleeping, so we had to be kind of quiet, but still… Nick, I haven't laughed like that in a while. I haven't had that good of a night in a long time."

"Yeah. See, I told you, sweetie. He's still Greg."

"Yeah, yeah." She rolls her eyes. "Quit it with the 'I-told-you-so', or I'm gonna push your head into the locker." I laugh.

"So, now what?"

"I don't know. He's a great guy, but…"

"Sara, come on. Grissom's moved on and gotten married. It hasn't been too short of a time."

"That's not the problem, though." I arch my eyebrows for a moment before it dawns on me what she means.

"He has a broken heart." She nods. "Give him time, maybe help him out. He needs friends, Sara. He can't do this alone."

"Yeah, I know." She leans against her locker as she closes it. "I know that's what he needs, but I don't know how to help him. I'm not good with people dealing with death, especially something as deep as that. I never have been."

"You don't give yourself enough credit," I tell her. She laughs.

"Suck up," she retorts. I smile.

"Yeah, well, you know me. Just be there for him. Listen to him if he wants to talk, distract him if he doesn't want to dwell on it. He's gonna tell you what he needs and what he wants, he's good about that."

"He told me about therapy."

"Yeah, I think he's bein' forced into that. Just be there, though. That's what he needs."

"Yeah. You know, Nicky, sometimes you're really good at this friend/comfort/advice thing."

"That's what I get for bein' raised in a house fulla girls. My brother's the same way." She laughs, and I smile.

"I'll see you in a bit, okay?"

"You bet." She walks out, leavin' me to smile in her wake. She's an interestin' person. Like one of those thousand piece puzzles, almost. I always hated those fuckin' thin's. Never finished one. Mostly because I'd get bored and move on, but that's beside the point. Anyway, I'm still sittin' here when Mandy walks in, lookin' like she's ready to either cry or kill someone. She struggles with her locker, kickin' it.

"Why does everything and everyone hate me?" she groans.

"I don't," I tell her. She jumps, lookin' at me.

"Sorry, Nick. I didn't see you there."

"It's okay. What's wrong?"

"I'm just… having a bad day."

"Anythin' I can do?"

"Yeah, shoot me," she grumbles bitterly. I frown, standin' and walkin' over to her.

"Talk to me."

"Well, let's begin with the phone ringing just after I managed to fall asleep, and it was a fucking hang up."

"I hate when that happens. I'm sorry."

"Then, I fall back asleep to have my cat wake me up three hours later because she decided that I'd make a good scratching post. Oh, and then the power went out in my building because the other residents are idiots. Follow that up with my car wouldn't start, my AAA membership expired yesterday, and I had to take the bus to work, where there was this creepy guy who would not stop staring at me." I hug her gently, knowin' that's prolly somethin' she needs at the moment, even though she's on the verge of stranglin' somethin'. She puts her arms around me, sighin' and puttin' her head on my shoulder.

"I'll give you a ride home, if you want," I tell her quietly.

"It's out of your way," she replies, some of her anger gone.

"I don't care. I don't want you to end up gettin' hurt by the creepy dude."

"If you're sure it's okay."

"I don't mind at all." I hug her tighter, feelin' her sigh.

"I hate my life," she says softly, and I can tell she's now holdin' back tears.

"You're just havin' a helluva bad day, hon. It'll get better." She shakes her head.

"No it won't."

"But tomorrow'll be another day."

"Another day of living alone with my cat crying myself to sleep at night because I'm pathetic." I frown.

"Mandy, you're not pathetic."

"Yes, I am. I have no life besides work. No social life, no boyfriend, no family crap because they're all married and living their own happy lives without me. Nothing. It's like outside of this lab, I don't exist." She starts to cry softly, and I hold her even tighter.

"You exist. You only feel like this because you're havin' a real bad day, and it feels like the world's against you. It'll be okay, honey."

"I kinda miss Henry," she admits, and I try to hide my disappointment. I thought she was over him.

"Yeah," I say softly. I know they were close to bein' married and all, but it's been about half a year. Okay, maybe I'm rushin' her, but… No, there is no but there. I should back off. It took me a while to get over… well, that's another story.

"I mean, he was my fiancé. I loved him, and he dumped me. That's probably the closest I'll ever get to being married, you know?" She continues to cry, and I shake my head.

"I don't think so, sweetie. Someday, you'll find someone else, and he'll make you fall in love. You'll get married, and you'll wonder why you thought it'd never happen."

"Yeah, right, Nicky." She sighs, clearin' her throat and stoppin' her tears.

"Trust me. I know all." She chuckles, and I smile.

"Thanks for everything."

"You're most welcome." She starts to move away from me before stoppin' and turnin'.

"I'm not pining or anything," she explains. I give her a confused look. "I mean, I probably wouldn't have been like that if my day didn't suck."

"Honey, don't worry about it," I tell her. "You were engaged to the guy, and you just broke up six months ago. None of us expect you to be completely over it."

"I am, though. It's just… when I'm upset or stressed, I think about him and how he could always make me feel better when I was upset, and it just makes things worse because I pushed him away."

"I understand. I was engaged once."

"You were? What happened?"

"She left." Which is half-true, and something I didn't think I'd have to mention much of, but again, that's another story for another time. She gives me a sympathetic smile.

"How long did it take you to get over her?"

"A while." She nods, somewhat frownin'. "It takes some time, but you'll be fine. You're doing great already." She smiles.

"Thanks, Nicky. I'll see you later." I nod, watchin' her as she starts to walk out of the locker room. She stops, turnin' back again. "By the way, your samples are totally getting priority tonight." I laugh.

"Thanks, Mandy."

"You're welcome." She turns around again, leavin' me alone in the locker room. One of these days, I'll make her see, but right now, I'm gonna follow the advice I gave Sara- sit back, wait, and be there.

**_When darkness is upon your door  
_****_And you feel like you can't take anymore  
Let me be the one you call_**


	15. Chapter 14 Sara

A/N: I still don't own anything you recognize. "Thumper's Little Sister" is a real children's book, so I don't own that either, but the lullabye Sara sings to Emily is mine. Song at the end is "Adam's Song" by Blink 182, which I don't own. I'm going to give you more than one chapter today, as I'm going to be offline for an undetermined amount of time starting this weekend (I know, it saddens me too). Please leave me some wonderful reviews, and I hope you enjoy. :D

* * *

**Babysitting**

"I'm really sorry about this," Greg says for the hundredth time as he lets me into his house, and I chuckle.

"Don't worry about it, Greg," I reply, putting down my bag.

"It's just the girl I normally get is in school, and Wendy and Hodges are out with Vanessa today, and Warrick and Catherine took Lindsey and Tatyana on vacation." He starts to move down the hall, and I follow him.

"It's okay."

"I owe you one, Sara. I really do." I laugh.

"Greg, don't worry about it."

"Nick was busy, though he wouldn't tell me with what."

"I know, I'm a last resort. And Nick was busy with Mandy." He stops and looks at me.

"Nick and Mandy?"

"That's probably why he didn't tell you. She had a rough day yesterday, so he's taking her out today. I think they're going mini-golfing or something, because she knows he sucks and wants to make fun of him." He nods, turning around and walking down the hall again.

"You have no idea how much this means to me."

"I think I do from the fact that you won't shut up."

"It was a rush appointment, so I didn't get a chance to get my ducks in a row."

"Greg, honey, it's okay. Don't worry about it." We walk into Emily's room, and she squeals with delight. He scoops her up, bouncing her lightly.

"Okay, Emmy, Daddy's gotta go to the doctor's," he tells her sweetly. "Be good for Auntie Sara, okay?" He kisses her softly on the forehead. "I love you." He hands her to me, and she immediately starts wrapping her hands and fingers in my hair. Greg smiles. "Thanks again, Sara."

"You're welcome, Greg. Go, you're going to be late."

"Okay, I'm gone." He walks out quickly, and I smile at the little girl.

"You're daddy's quite amazing," I tell her, smiling. She puts her hand into her mouth, and I groan. Saliva. Gross.

I bring her into Greg's living room, sitting down with her on the couch. She giggles, clapping her hands, which makes me smile and tickle her stomach softly. We stay that way for a little while before she needs her diaper changed. After that, I feed her and sit with her on the couch again. I begin to read to her the book "Thumper's Little Sister," a story that I had enjoyed as a kid. By the time I finish the story, she's fast asleep, so I turn on the TV quietly. I hold onto her as I turn on a movie, waiting for Greg to come home.

She wakes up about an hour into the movie, crying for a diaper change again. I take care of that, singing softly to her as I do so. She giggles, clapping her hands, which makes me smile more. I bring her back into the living room, sitting in the rocking chair Greg has in his living room.

"When the night is falling," I sing softly, rocking her in the chair. "The stars will shine, and they shine bright for you. They shine bright for you, little girl. They shine bright for you. I will always be near you, always at your side. Whenever you need a friend or love, I'll be by your side. I'll always be by your side. You can count on me. I'll never let you down. Put your trust in me, little girl. I'll never let you down. I will love you until the stars fall from the sky, the sun refuses to shine. So when the night is falling, and the stars are shining bright for you, remember I'll always be near you, forever at your side." I look down to find her asleep again.

"Can I get a copy of that sometime?" Greg asks softly from the doorway. I jump slightly. I never heard him come in. "It was really pretty." I smile softly, half sadly.

"My father used to sing that to me when I was little," I tell him. "At least until I was about five, anyway." That was before he was… well, him. Greg nods, sitting on the couch across from me.

"It's pretty. You have a nice voice." I laugh.

"I do not."

"It's better than mine."

"Greg, sweetie, that doesn't take much." He chuckles.

"You're good with her."

"She's a sweet kid. It's not hard. She takes after her father."

"Nah, she's more like her mother." I nod, biting back a frown as I stand and put her in the portable crib Greg has set up in the living room.

"How are you holding up?" I ask him softly as I sit down next to him.

"If I was doing that great at this, I wouldn't be going to therapy."

"There's no shame in needing it, Greg." He sighs.

"Yeah, I know, but I still feel embarrassed. I can't get past it."

"It took me a while to get past my mom killing my dad, and that was with therapy from day one. You've been going it alone for a while. You're doing great, Greg."

"Yeah, that's what Catherine said the other day."

"She tends to be right, you know." He laughs.

"There's something I didn't think I'd ever hear you say."

"Hey, Catherine and I are friends."

"Yeah, I know. Can I get you something? Some lunch, maybe?" I smile.

"You're sweet, but I'm meeting Grissom for lunch." He arches his eyebrows. "He and I have lunch every so often because we're still good friends."

"What happened there, Sara?" he asks softly. I sigh, shrugging.

"When you left, I was pretty upset, and I shut down. Grissom couldn't stand it, but I didn't know how to let him help me, which is always my problem, so it kind of tore us apart. We both know, though, that no one really was to blame more than the other, so we're still friends." He nods, frowning.

"I'm sorry."

"You're not to blame either, Greg."

"That's debatable."

"Shut up." He laughs.

"Have a good lunch," he says, standing. "Thanks again for coming over."

"You're welcome, Greg," I reply, hugging him gently. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Sara." I wave goodbye as I walk out the door, leaving his house for the bright sunshine of the day.

**_Tomorrow holds such better days  
_****_Days when I can still feel alive  
When I can't wait to get outside_**


	16. Chapter 15 Greg

A/N: Still don't own the ones you recognize. Song at the end is "Shimmer" by Fuel, which I do not own. Many thanks to my wonderful beta, lostladyknight. :) Enjoy!

* * *

**Email Exchange**_From: cwoods _

_To: gsanders_

_Date: May 21, 2010 10:20am EDT_

_Subject: Gregory…_

_Hey, Hojem,_

_How's it going out there in Sin City? Everything the way you left it?_

_Ronnie, Jeff, and Maria say hey too. We all miss you out here. Maybe you and Emily could come visit some time._

_I thought I'd write to you, because I know that today's probably hard for you, being Kendall's birthday and all. I'm so sorry, honey, that things happened the way they did for you. Please, don't hesitate to call or write me if you need anything. I love you, Hojem._

_So, come on, you've been gone for a couple of months. You've gotta have some good stories from out there. Have you finally made level 3? Are you working with your old team or are you on a different shift? I'm dying over here for ANYTHING from you. I'll be waiting in baited breath. ;)_

_Margaret_

I smile, reading her email again. I'm glad she wrote to me, but... Sighing, I think about what I should write back. How I flipped out not once, but twice over crimes since I got back? About how Emily's growing up without her mother? About how I think I'm falling in love with someone, even though I haven't gotten over my late wife yet? About how I have a lot of depressive thoughts? I read her email for the third time, taking a sip from my mug of coffee as the door to the room opens.

"Hey, Greg," Warrick says, grabbing an apple from the bowl on the table as he sits across from me.

"Hey," I reply quietly.

"What's up?"

"I just… got an email, that's all."

"What's got you bummin' about it?"

"Nothing about the email. It's just a tough day." He looks curiously at me, and I sigh. "Kendall's birthday."

"Oh. I'm sorry, man."

"No, it's okay. I need something happy. How was your vacation?" He smiles.

"Oh, it was great. We took the girls to Maui for some sun and sand, and Catherine took the girls shopping." I smile.

"I bet Tatyana had a blast."

"Oh, yeah. She loves hangin' out with Lindsey, who loves babysitting her."

"So, when are you and Catherine just going to get together, huh?" He laughs.

"Don't let her hear you saying that, bro. She'll kick your ass." I laugh, shaking my head.

"Nah, I don't think so. All I have to do is flash her my sad, pathetic, little Greggo face, and she apologizes and feels bad." He laughs again.

"Yeah, I bet. She once said that yelling at you is like whacking a puppy with a newspaper. Sometimes it has to be done, but you always feel bad about it after."

"That's because I'm loveable."

"Yeah, right."

"Even Hodges loves me. Come on, Warrick. You can't deny that I'm loveable if even he loves me."

"I want proof he does."

"He said he'd missed me the first night I saw him again." Warrick shakes his head.

"Damn. Okay, maybe you are."

"I know, that's hard for you to admit."

"So, how was your day? I know you said it's a hard one for you." I nod, sighing softly.

"I'm just in a bit of a bad mood, thinking a lot about her," I tell him. "Wishing she was here with her daughter celebrating her birthday instead of… there. I would probably go put a flower or something there, but I'm here, not there." He nods, frowning slightly. "I'm trying not to think about it too much, because if I do, then I'll be impossible."

"Hey, do whatever you need to," he assures me. "You don't need to justify anything to any of us. But if you want, I bet Catherine could probably help you out a bit."

"Yeah, at least with knowing what it's like."

"Yeah. I'll shut up so you can answer that email." I laugh.

"Thanks, man."

"No problem." I look back at the computer, hitting the reply button.

_From: gsanders _

_To: cwoods_

_Date: May 21, 2010 6:30pm PDT_

_Subject: RE: Gregory…_

_Hey hey, Margaret!_

_Things aren't exactly how I left them. Apparently a lot of drama went down while I was in RI with you guys, but all the CSIs are still here and most of the lab techs. The only person who left was our toxicologist, Henry. Other than that, everyone's still here, but a lot has changed. It's kind of cool to know that over the past three years, my life isn't the only thing that's been full of… excitement? Drama? One of the two, anyway._

_Tell them all I said hey back. I miss you guys too. Maybe sometime in the future I'll come visit, like in January or something. And of course Emily will come too. I can't believe how quickly she's growing. It seems like just the other day Kendall was in labor, and now Emily's already almost a year old. Time flies, huh? How's Christian doing? He on summer break yet?_

_Thanks for writing me. So far, today's been kind of hard, you know? I think about her all the time. Have since I met her, and I guess I always will, but I'm trying not to think too much. I guess as much as I love remembering her, it hurts so much more. But I've got some pretty great friends out here that are pretty accepting and willing to help. I promise, though, if I need something, I'll call you._

_I don't really have any good stories from out here, but I am a CSI 3 now. I'm working with my old team too, which is pretty cool. They're really great people. I never did tell you the truth about me leaving here. See, the thing is, when I left Vegas, I really didn't explain why I was going, because it hurt too much at the time. You guys all knew, though, because Kendall couldn't keep her mouth shut… haha. They had no idea until I got here almost two months ago, but they know the whole story now. They've been really great about welcoming me back, even though I just kind of abruptly left before. Even Sara… Remember me telling you about her? Anyway, she was kinda rough on me at first, but she's really been great the last month or so._

_I miss you guys. Maybe one (or more) of you could come out here sometime? I know Maria's said she always wanted to go to Vegas. Maybe this can give her a valid excuse… haha. Anyway, can't wait to hear from you again. Hopefully by then you'll have something better to say. :P_

_Hojem_

I click the send button, smiling to myself as I do. Writing to her just reminded me of how much fun it was out there. "How'd it go?" Warrick asks jokingly. I chuckle.

"It turned into an epic," I tell him. He smiles.

"Yeah, I bet."

"One of these days, I'll start reading the emails you guys sent me from way back."

"You never read them?"

"You're surprised that I didn't?" He shrugs.

"I guess not. I just thought maybe at some point you would have." I shrug.

"I don't know. For a while, I just couldn't face the hurt I inflicted on you guys. Now I'm just curious."

"Yeah." He takes a drink from the water bottle he had grabbed while I was writing to Carrie as I close down my laptop. "How's Emily doing?"

"She's doing really good. She's about eleven months old now, so it's time to start planning her first birthday party." Warrick chuckles. "I'm thinking strippers popping out of cupcakes, a real Vegas theme." He laughs harder, and I smile. I was hoping maybe I'd get him to shoot water out his nose, but no such luck.

"Your daughter would have the most popular first birthday party, that's for sure."

"Yeah, I know. I think, though, it'll really just be a cookout- some nice grilling, burgers, chicken, grilled veggies for Sara. Something nice and low-key. Save the strippers for her fifth birthday."

"Yeah, okay, bro. Sounds nice, though." I nod, smiling. "Time flies though, huh? Seems like just yesterday my little girl was born, and now she's in her terrible twos."

"Yeah, I know. I don't know if I'm looking forward to that one." He laughs.

"Tatyana's been pretty good about it, amazingly. You've got a while before Emily gets there."

"Yeah, I know. How's Lindsey? I know you said she had a good time in Maui."

"Yeah, we all had a blast. She's doing well. Still driving Catherine nuts with the college talk, though." I laugh.

"I bet. She's always been a pretty driven girl, done things she's set her mind to. I bet any school in the country would be begging her to go there."

"Well, she did pretty well on her SATs, even better on her ACTs, so she's good for just about anywhere."

"Where does she want to go?"

"WLVU, Stanford, UCLA, or Texas A&M."

"Why those schools?"

"All her 'aunts and uncles' went to those schools."

"Are you serious?"

"No, not really. She said that was part of it, but mostly that they're really good schools."

"Why isn't Harvard on the list? Sara went there and it's an amazing school."

"That's too far away for her." I nod, smiling. "She's leaning more heavily toward WLVU because she wants to stay close to home."

"She gonna live on campus?"

"She wants to, at least for the first year. According to her, you don't get the real college experience if you don't."

"See how much you know about Lindsey's college choices? You should just admit that you're with Catherine." He laughs. "We all know it anyway."

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because it's obvious, man. It's been obvious since you started here. Come on, get with the times, sweep the girl off her feet already."

"If it makes you feel better, we hooked up in Maui, okay?"

"Dude, you've been holdin' out on me, man! That's awesome!" He laughs.

"Keep it to yourself, though. Don't know how Ecklie would react if he found out."

"Oh, come on. He knew Grissom and Sara had a relationship. And Henry and Mandy. And Hodges and Wendy, which is the relationship everyone should be worried about if they're going to worry about one. I think you and Catherine are safe."

"I don't know, man. Ecklie's been against Hodges and Wendy after seeing Grissom and Sara break up. Same with Henry and Mandy."

"Yeah, but Grissom and Sara are still friends, still work fine together. You and Catherine will be fine." He shrugs.

"We're not exactly ready to be public yet, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I do. Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me."

"Right on." We bump fists as Nick walks in.

"I leave you two alone for five minutes…" he starts jokingly.

"You're just mad because we're cutting you out," I joke back, winking at Warrick.

"Yeah, Greg and I are getting our own place without you," Warrick adds.

"No Stokes allowed."

"I think the girls would like that."

"You two are fucked up," Nick groans.

"We know," I say.

"I was thinking, though," Warrick says to me. "Maybe we should get Tatyana and Emily together sometime for a play date. I think they'd like that."

"Yeah, we could do that. Maybe Vanessa could join too."

"Would we really want to be with Hodges, though?" I laugh.

"Maybe we can convince him to let Wendy bring her over." Warrick laughs, and Nick shakes his head.

"Ya'll are mean," he informs us.

"We know," I reiterate.

"We should do that, though," Warrick says.

"Yeah, we'll work on it. One of these days when we get some time off… if that ever happens." He laughs.

"Yeah, I know." Catherine and Sara walk in together, talking about the trip. Sara sits next to me as Catherine sits across the table from her and next to Warrick. Nick sits at the end next to me and Warrick, and the three of us start talking about Nick's new car as the girls continue their conversation. Grissom walks in, and all five of us turn and look at him.

"Tonight's assignments," he says. "Catherine, you and Greg are on a 419 in Lake Mead. Sara, you and Warrick are on a robbery off the Strip. Nick, you're with me." We all stand, leaving the break room to go fight the good fight on the streets of Las Vegas.

I've always wanted to say that.

**_We're here and now  
_****_But will we ever be again  
'Cause I have found  
_****_All that shimmers in this world  
Is sure to fade away again_**


	17. Chapter 16 Catherine

A/N: Okay, final chapter I'm spamming you with today... hahaha. I don't own any recognized quantity, including (but not limited to) CSI, CBS, Allison Kessler (Lady Heather's granddaughter), or "Enterlude" by The Killers, which is the song at the end of the chapter. My beta, lostladyknight, is fantastic. :)

Allow me to take a moment, however, to talk about my OCs, and maybe set a few things straight (as they will become important later on in the story). So, when you have a question about them, refer back to this chapter. :)

First, the Lakeland team. Ronnie Hall is the supervisor of the Graveyard shift, a CSI 3, and was Greg's supervisor. Ronnie's the father figure of the shift, yet also relatively hands-off, kind of "don't care what you're doing as long as it's legal and not destructive." Jeff Jacobs is a CSI 3 for Lakeland, and worked closely with Greg, acting almost like the older brother to him. For that, he got treated by Greg as if he was Greg's older brother. Jeff was also very protective of Kendall, being that she had been friends with his little sister growing up. Kendall Sanders was a CSI 1, Greg's wife, and was murdered at a crime scene. Greg killed her murderer in self-defense. Maria Sanchez, a CSI 1, came in to replace Kendall after her death, and was with Greg in Miami when he ran into Nick and Warrick.

Others from Lakeland include Carrie Wood, the fingerprint tech, who was Greg's best friend and partner in crime out there. They affectionately refer to each other by their middle names. She helped Greg and Kendall get together, and jokes about having slept with Greg, though it's never happened. Jeremiah Davis is the Trace/DNA tech for Lakeland, and his part comes up in this chapter. Detective Steven Manes was the brother of Andrew Manes (never explicitly named), who killed Kendall Sanders and was killed by Greg.

Next, the kids. Emily Victoria Sanders is Greg and Kendall's daughter, and she is a year old as of this chapter. Tatyana Aimee (pronounced Ah-mee) Brown is Warrick and Tina's two-year-old daughter. She lived with Tina initially after the divorce until Tina abandoned her with Warrick. Vanessa Rose Hodges is the daughter of Carmen Michaels and David Hodges, and is four years old. Vanessa was a year old when Carmen was murdered, and Hodges was almost killed as well at the time. Christian Irving Wood is Carrie's four-year-old son. David Jr. is the son of David and Jessica Phillips (I know he got married, so I named her haha), and he is three years old..

Then, the day-shift. Melanie Drier is a CSI 3, married to Alexander Drier (never mentioned). John Drier is Alexander's brother, Melanie's brother-in-law, and is also a CSI 3. James Johnson was a CSI 2 for the dayshift three years ago, but has since moved on to become a CSI 3 for Seattle.

Finally, Sandra Berman (mentioned in passing) is someone Nick went to high school with, and the reason he "failed high school geography."

I hope this helps, and if you have any further questions still, PM me. :) Now, on with the story :D

* * *

**Party Time**

Three months.

That's how long it's been since Greg's come back as we all gather for his daughter's first birthday party. Lindsey finishes wrapping her present for Emily. "Hey Mom," she starts.

"Yeah?" I ask her.

"What do you think about me going to WLVU? I mean, it's close, but I could still live on campus and be somewhat independent."

"Lindsey, I'll be happy with whatever you choose, you know that." She nods.

"But what do you think I should do?"

"Apply to all of them, then make your decisions from there." She shrugs.

"It's only June. I really don't need to worry about that… do I?"

"Yes, you do." Warrick walks up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he kisses the top of my head.

"I hate college. This is so stressful." I chuckle, looking up at Warrick.

"Come on, Linds," he says. "You're mom's just trying to make you feel worse at the moment, which is very mean of her." I shrug. She's been driving me up a wall lately, so fair is fair. "You don't need to think about it 24/7, nor do you need to worry right now." I mouth a silent 'thank you' to him, and he winks.

"This is my future, Rick," she replies.

"Sweetie, colleges don't expect you to make your final decision until sometime in March or April, after you've been accepted. Follow your mom's advice. Apply to them all, and decide after." She nods, thinking about it.

"You're right. You know, I kind of feel bad for Emily." I shake my head. She has the ability to jump topics rather rapidly, a quality that I have no idea from where it comes.

"Why's that?" I ask.

"She's celebrating her first birthday without her mother," she replies thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well don't bring that up around Greg. Knowing him, he's probably feeling down about it already, so don't add to it."

"Mom, I'm not five anymore. I know better."

"You've got your mother's attitude," Warrick jokes, kissing my cheek. "I'm going to go wake Sleeping Beauty upstairs. Be right back." I nod, watching as he walks away. I love this man.

"You finally made a good choice in love with him," Lindsey says, winking. I shake my head.

"Finally?" I ask.

"Well, I mean, Dad wasn't bad because you got me, but after him, you didn't do so hot."

"Just wait until you strike out in love."

"Please, Mom. With Nick around, no guy's ever going to get close." I laugh, knowing she's right. Nick's been overprotective of Lindsey ever since Eddie's death. He once told one of the guys coming to pick her up that if he ever hurt Lindsey, he'd better run because Nick'd kill him, and being a CSI, he knows how to get away with it. I thought it was funny and cute, but Lindsey was embarrassed.

Warrick walks back downstairs with a sleepy Tatyana in his arms. "Did you have a good nap?" I ask her softly. She nods, rubbing her eyes. Warrick kisses her on the forehead as I grab the gifts from Warrick, Tatyana, and myself. The four of us climb into my car, driving the relatively short distance to Greg's place. We arrive at the same time as Nick, walking with him around behind the house where Greg is grilling and the birthday girl is playing with Sara in the grass.

"Hey Greggo," Nick says.

"What's up, Nicky?" Greg replies, stepping away from the grill. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course. I like cake." Warrick laughs.

"It shows," he mutters. Nick glares at him as Tatyana giggles.

"Daddy mean," she says.

"Yes, he is," Nick replies, putting his gift next to Sara's before taking Tatyana from Warrick. "How's my favorite little niece?" He starts tickling, making her shriek and giggle.

"Stop!" He does so, and she smiles as he kisses her forehead and hands her back to Warrick.

"Need any help, Greggo?"

"Nah, I think I'm good." Grissom, Lady Heather, and Allison Kessler are the next to arrive in the backyard. Heather leads Allison over to Sara and Emily while Grissom heads over to Warrick, Nick, Lindsey, Tatyana, and I. Lindsey takes Tatyana from Warrick, bringing her over to Sara, Heather, Allison, and Emily.

"So, you and Warrick, huh?" Greg asks, wiggling his eyebrows as Nick, Warrick, and Grissom have begun talking about work.

"You and Sara, huh?" I reply. He twists his lips into a half-smile as he looks over at Sara, Heather, and the girls.

"She's amazing with Emily."

"Yeah, she is." I know I'm doing exactly what I told Lindsey not to do, but as I look at Greg, I realize maybe talking about it is something he needs to do. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay." He turns to me. "Does it always feel this empty? You know, when your kid's celebrating something and they're not here to enjoy it?" I half-frown, thinking.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, it does." I put my hand on his shoulder. "But the emptiness gets easier to deal with."

"Yeah, I've realized that." He looks back at the grill as a smile works its way onto his lips. "I'm glad you guys came."

"We wouldn't miss our Greggo's little girl's big day." His smile grows as Hodges and Wendy round the corner of the house, Vanessa in tow. She smiles when she sees Lindsey and Tatyana, breaking her hand out of Hodges' grasp to run over to them. "You invited Hodges?" I ask him.

"No," he replies. "I invited Wendy and Vanessa. She just had to bring him." I chuckle.

"Hey guys!" Wendy says brightly, putting their gift on the table. Hodges makes a grunt of acknowledgement.

"Someone's cranky today," Nick starts. "Didn't get laid this morning?"

"At least I have a girl, Stokes," Hodges replied. Nick shakes his head.

"Whatever, Hodges. At least I'm not an asshole."

"Can you two not fight and use harsh language?" Greg asks. "This is a kid's party."

"You need more friends with kids, G," Nick says.

"Yeah, well, hop to it, Stokes. Your family reproduces like jack rabbits." Nick turns a healthy shade of red, as he looks downward.

"Yeah, so what's wrong with you?" Hodges continues Greg's thought. "At least I have a kid." Nick shakes his head.

"Not going there," he says lowly as Mandy and Archie arrive. They drop off their gifts at the table, standing with the rest of Vegas' finest. Sara and Heather join everyone after a few moments of Nick and Hodges still bickering. Greg shakes his head.

"Can the two of you please shut up?" he asks. Nick and Hodges both turn to Greg.

"Sorry," they say quietly.

"It's my daughter's birthday, and the two of you are fighting about who's more of a man."

"We all know the answer to that," Nick replies.

"Yeah, we do," Warrick says. "Sara." Sara groans and swats at Warrick while the rest of us chuckle at his joke.

"I hate you," she tells him.

"No you don't." She groans again, and we all smile. David and his wife, Jessica, come around the corner of the house with their son, David Jr., in tow.

"I didn't know you invited them," I say to Greg.

"It's a kid's party, he has a three year old son, so I figured why the hell not?" Greg replies. "Welcome to my house," he says to David as Jessica puts David Jr. with the girls.

"Thanks," David replies. "Hey guys."

"Hey hey, Super Dave," Nick says, slapping him gently on the shoulder. Jessica walks over to us, smiling as she steps next to her husband and links her arm through his. He smiles as her hand comes to a stop on her swollen abdomen.

"When are you due again?" I ask her.

"November," she replies. "Not soon enough, if you ask me." Heather and I chuckle softly.

"Never is," Heather says, smiling. I nod my agreement.

"Yeah, I totally know what you mean," Greg jokes, tending to the grill. Jessica laughs as Heather and I shake our heads.

"So, wise ass, who else is coming?" Sara asks.

"This is it that I know of. Doc Robbins was busy, Ecklie had other things to do…"

"He's not gonna pop in later like he did last time, will he?"

"No. Bobby Dawson's out of town, Brass and Sofia are busy, and I don't have any other friends."

"What about your parents?" Nick asks softly.

"They had a prior commitment, but were here a few days ago," Greg says as a young woman with red curly hair walked around the corner of the house. She has a young boy with her that has the same curls as the woman with him, but his hair is a dark brown. "Holy shit. Margaret!" Greg puts down the tongs he had been holding, rushing over to meet the woman who was starting to run toward him.

"Hojem!" she says. They meet halfway, hugging.

"Hey, Christian," he addresses the little boy as they let go of one another.

"Greggy!" the little boy says, hugging Greg's legs.

"How ya doin', slugger?" Greg picks up the little boy as I look at the rest of our team.

"Anyone have any ideas?" I ask them. Each one shakes his or her head, puzzled as I am. We watch as the little boy goes running over to Lindsey and the kids and Greg and the woman walk toward us.

"Guys, this is Carrie Wood," Greg says. "She was the fingerprint tech in Lakeland. Carrie, this is…"

"Wait, let me guess," she says happily. She looks at all of us before pointing at Grissom. "You have to be Grissom."

"Is that good or bad?" he asks Greg.

"Good," Greg assures him.

"You have to be Catherine," she says to me. I nod. "Which makes you standing next to her Warrick." Warrick arches his eyebrows. "Hojem always said the two of you were close, borderline together." I chuckle. "You have to be Nick and Sara, then."

"Yes, ma'am," Nick drawls.

"Please, lady killer, don't call me 'ma'am'. Makes me feel old." Nick chuckles.

"My apologies, then." She shrugs, smiling.

"Okay, you have gotta be Archie," she says, pointing at him. He nods, smiling. "Which would make you Hodges. The girls, though, I don't think I could tell apart."

"You did good," Greg says, smiling. "Next to Nicky is Mandy, Wendy's next to Hodges, and Lady Heather is the other beautiful woman here." Heather smiles softly as Carrie arches her eyebrows.

"You never mentioned her."

"I'd never really met her until about three months ago."

"You mean after you failed to let me give you a proper send off?"

"Sweetie, you have a boyfriend."

"Had is more of the appropriate term." He frowns.

"I'm sorry. You didn't mention that."

"Yeah, well, that's recent."

"Oh, no. Why?"

"He wasn't too fond of me coming out here to surprise you for your daughter's birthday."

"I'm not surprised."

"What? Why? Who told you?"

"Told me what?"

"I was coming out here."

"No one. I'm not surprised that he wasn't fond of you coming out here. I'm surprised you're here."

"Oh, okay. Well, why aren't you surprised?"

"Because you and I always flirted in RI, even when he was in the room. He was jealous of me, would've kicked my ass if he could. The only thing that told him it was nothing more was the fact that I was with Kendall. When she died and I was out there and all torn up, he knew that I wouldn't sleep with you. But now that it's been eight months, it's not illogical for him to think that I'm ready to move on and that I'd try something with you. And given our history, he probably thought there'd be nothing to stop us now." Turning to the rest of us, he says, "We never did anything. I know that's what you guys are thinking, but it never happened."

"We just kinda goof off flirt," she explains.

"She was my best friend out there. Helped me get with Kendall." She nods sadly.

"Oh, and don't forget the time I stopped Jeff from killing you." Greg laughs.

"Which time?" We all chuckle softly. "I was always torturing the guy. I swear one day I thought he'd break into the house and kill me."

"The only reason he didn't was because Kendall and I wouldn't let him." Greg chuckles.

"Yeah, I know."

"Although there was that one day that you'd pissed Kendall off, so to teach you a lesson we told Jeff to come after you."

"That was the day with the shaving cream and silly string, right?"

"No, honey. The shaving cream and silly string was the time we ganged up against Ronnie."

"Anyone else confused?" Nick asks softly. Captain tact strikes again.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sugar," Carrie says. "Jeff's a CSI 3, Ronnie's our boss. Kendall…"

"They know about Kendall and Maria," Greg says before gesturing at Nick. "He's the one Maria wouldn't shut up about." Carrie nods, chuckling.

"Right. Anyway, there was a lot of boring nights out in Lakeland with nothing to do, so we used to pretty much annoy the hell out of each other. Hojem and I, we were always the troublemakers. Jeff hated it, but Kendall loved it, and Ronnie didn't care either way, so long as we didn't destroy anything."

"And we never did, for the record."

"Yeah, that broken window was all Jeremiah's fault." Greg laughs.

"Trace/DNA guy," he explains. "We were having a fight… who was it? Me and Jeff or me and you?"

"You and Kendall," Carrie says.

"Oh, right, yeah. Marital squabble while she was pregnant. Anyway, I was mad, so Jeremiah suggested I go to the gym or something, work it out. Said he'd go with me because we had nothing to do that night. So we went to the department gym and kinda got into a sparring match, which ended up with a broken window and Ronnie really pissed off. To this day, though, we don't exactly know how that happened… but we always blamed Jeremiah."

"Ronnie never found out which one of you it really was."

"I think I actually did it."

"That doesn't surprise me," Nick says.

"Yeah, there's a locker that can attest to that," Warrick adds.

"It had it coming," Greg jokes.

"Yeah, I mean, it was there, right?" Nick jokes back.

"Eh, that was Grissom's fault." Carrie looks confused as Grissom agrees.

"What about a locker?" she asks Greg.

"Oh, on Mother's day I punched a locker," he replies nonchalantly.

"Why?"

"Rough case, I was angry, just a bad day all around." She nods, frowning.

"You coulda called me."

"You sound like my mother."

"Well, you know, when we role played that night…"

"No infantilism jokes, please. That one still gives me nightmares."

"What one?" Us Vegas CSIs chuckle, knowing what Greg's talking about.

"Long story, long time ago." She nods. "So, lunch is just about ready. Let's round up the kids and get this party started."

**_It's good to have you with us  
_****_Even if it's just for the day  
We hope you enjoyed your stay_**


	18. Chapter 17 Nick

A/N: I know, it's been forever, but I've had so much get in the way. Alas, I have not forgotten you, dear readers! So, I still don't own anyone or anything you recognize, including (but not limited to) CSI, CBS, or "Name" by The Goo Goo Dolls, which is the song at the end of the chapter. I promise, the pieces will all fall into place by the end of this, but there are still a few open ends to explain. And they will be explained. With that being said, thanks to my beta, lostladyknight, and I hope you enjoy. Please review. :)

* * *

**Silent Dinners**

We're standin' in my kitchen, makin' dinner, when she turns to me. "Everything happens for a reason, right?" She's lookin' for somethin'. What it is, I don't know, so I nod in agreement, hopin' that helps. She puts her hand on my arm, and I have the feeling that didn't work. "Okay, then. What's your reason behind fighting with Hodges at Greg's daughter's party?" I sigh. Here we go again.

"Mandy, baby, that was last week," I say, hopin' she'll drop it. Knowin' her, though, there's no such luck. This's been sittin' for a while, and we've been dancin' 'round the issue.

"Nick, dear, you and I both know that you have the memory of an elephant. I know you didn't forget. For Christ's sake, you remember the time your brother choked on a Lego when you were three." Part true. I was the one that choked, but anyway…

"So?"

"Why'd you fight with him? Come on, you always make me talk when I'm upset."

"This is different."

"How so?"

"Hodges and I were kiddin' around, so there's really nothin' to talk about."

"No you weren't." She's too good at seein' through my bullshit. "Greg had to break you guys up."

"I wasn't gonna hit him or anythin'."

"Nick…"

"Can we talk about this later?" Or never?

"Not if you want priority tonight."

"Hey, I can wait. You're the one that's impatient."

"Fine then. Not if you wanna play 'King of the Mountain' before work tonight." I stop, lookin' at her.

"You wouldn't."

"I would." I sigh.

"Fine. I was fightin' Hodges because…" I pause, thinkin' of how to tell her. I shake my head. I can't do it. Not yet. "Because he was bein' an ass to you earlier." She looks in my eyes, and I keep my thoughts as sincere as I can. I think she bought the lie this time as she frowns softly.

"Nick, come on. I don't need my secret lover to fight my battles, and you know that." I arch my eyebrows.

"Secret lover?"

"What else would you call us? We sneak around, have home dates, hide everything at work… what are we?"

"Playin' it safe. Ecklie…"

"Hasn't touched Hodges and Wendy. You're just afraid." I shrug.

"I have a bad track record. You're argumentative today."

"I'm PMSing." I arch my eyebrows again. "What?"

"I wasn't expectin' honesty." She shakes her head.

"Well, if I'm demanding it of you, Cowboy, the last thing I'm gonna do is lie to you." I shrug. Her line of reasonin' makes sense. "So, you gonna tell me why you were really fighting Hodges?"

"Dinner's ready," I say, hopin' that'll quell this argument. We sit at the table, eatin' in silence. I guess that's better than fightin', but it still sucks. We finish our silent dinner and start cleanin' up before I get frustrated. "You mad at me?"

"No," she replies.

"What is it, then? You've been silent throughout dinner."

"I'm just curious why you're being such a child about this."

"About what?"

"You won't tell me why you were fighting Hodges. Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it. I thought that would be obvious from the fact that I hadn't given you a straight answer." She rolls her eyes.

"You're worse than Hodges." I feel anger start to rise within me.

"I'm worse than Hodges?"

"Yeah, right now you are."

"You're worse than Sara was when she started here!"

"Oh, now that's mean."

"And saying I'm worse than Hodges isn't?"

"I'm telling the truth!"

"Well, so am I!"

"You're being ridiculous."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't want to talk about it because whatever it is that made me fight him is a sore subject for me? That maybe this has been botherin' me for years, and that maybe no one here knows?"

"That last part I find hard to believe."

"Well believe it, babe. If they know, it's not because I told them, but because they did their own research." She frowns.

"Why don't you want to talk about it?"

"Because it still hurts, Mandy! It kills me every second of every day. And yeah, Hodges brought up somethin' that hurt, and I snapped, okay? Are you happy now?!?" She sighs, puttin' her arms around me as I drop the dishes in the sink.

"I'm sorry," she whispers softly. I shake my head.

"Not your fault," I tell her softly. "It was long before I knew you." She keeps her arms around me.

"Tell me about it." I sigh softly.

"Well, it was fifteen years ago…"

**_The scars are souvenirs you never lose  
The past is never far  
And did you lose yourself somewhere out there  
Did you get to be a star?  
_****_And don't it make you sad to know that life  
Is more than who we are?_**


	19. Chapter 18 Mandy

A/N: Okay, so it's a 2 for 1 day... which I'm debating on 3 for 1, since I've been gone so long. Anyway, see previous chapter for disclaimer. It's now the Fourth of July for our CSIs, and what better way to ring in the day than with a party... that turns into something more. Because I'm evil. Song at the end is "Hurt" by Christina Aguilera, which I don't own. Lostladyknight is fantastic forever. :)

* * *

**Independence Day Hells**

I walk up to the door, carrying the bowl of potato salad I promised to bring. Wendy throws the door open before I even get there. "Mandy, thank God," she says softly, pulling me into the house.

"Hodges driving you nuts?" I ask her, putting the bowl down in the kitchen.

"Yes. And I need help setting up the tables."

"You got it." I help her get the tablecloths on the tables as Greg and Emily arrive with the chicken wings they promised. He puts her down on the grass, puts the wings next to my potato salad, and hugs Wendy and I, kissing us both on the cheek.

"Good afternoon, ladies," he greets us. I smile.

"Hey Greg," Wendy says. I wave politely.

"Can I be of any help to you guys?"

"Could you bring the coolers outside for me? I'm not quite sure where David is."

"I'm right here," Hodges says, bringing Vanessa with him. She rushes over to Emily, smiling.

"Emmy!" she screams. Emily squeals in delight.

"She's not talking yet?" Greg shakes his head.

"She's thirteen months," Greg tells him.

"I think Vanessa was talking by then," Hodges says in his patented 'I'm better than you' voice.

"She was not," Wendy says. Greg smiles as Nick walks up carrying a bag and his contribution to our party.

"Hey, ya'll," he says. He places the food down before handing the bag to Greg. "I thought you could use this." Greg opens it, pulling out a baby jacket before looking up at Nick.

"Thanks, man," Greg says.

"Yeah, I know it's kinda old and been used, but I figured it'd be cool 'cuz it's clean." Greg smiles.

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll love it. I don't have anything for her for the winter yet."

"Dude, it's July, though," Hodges says.

"Shut up," Wendy tells him. "It's a nice gesture."

"Yeah, it is, but still. If you want hand-me-downs, Warrick could give you some."

"You could too." He laughs.

"Yeah, right." He walks away, and we shake our heads.

"So, uh, whose was this?" Greg asks.

"Oh, uh, it belonged to one of my nieces," Nick says quickly. I look over at him, and he glances in my direction. I look down to the ground.

"Which one?"

"Uh, Kara, I think. I don't know, I was talkin' to my sister the other night and I mentioned your girl so she sent it to me."

"Oh. Tell her thanks for me."

"Will do." I shake my head. Liar, liar. Warrick and Catherine walk up with Lindsey and Tatyana in tow. Not far behind them are Grissom and Heather. We get everything set up as the guests all arrive.

"Who's on tonight?" Hodges asks. "Besides Wendy and me, that is."

"I am," Greg says.

"Me too," Sara says.

"I'm off," Catherine says, smiling.

"Me too," Warrick says.

"I'm off too," Nick says.

"Sara's in charge tonight," Grissom says.

"She always is," Greg laments, causing all of us to laugh.

"You don't seem to mind that though, Mr. Sanders," Heather observes, causing Greg to blush and confirm her suspicion. The rest of us just laugh, and Greg turns to the bag Nick gave him earlier.

"Hey, I didn't see this before," he says, pulling out a Cabbage Patch doll. Nick smiles.

"Yeah, I figured Emily might like it," Nick told him.

"Belonged to your niece, eh?"

"Uh, yeah."

"You're youngest niece is three. Why'd your sister give it to you to give to my daughter?" Nick shrugs.

"Don't ask me to understand her motives. She's a woman. No offense to the ladies present."

"None taken," Wendy says.

"Oh, I take great offense," Sara jokes, winking.

"You would," Nick retorts, swatting at her playfully.

"Behave, children," I scold them jokingly. Nick sticks his tongue out at me.

"Cute," Greg replies. "Now Emily'll be doing that all night and for the rest of my life." We all laugh.

"She'll grow out of it," Nick tells him.

"Yeah, okay. Just like you did?" We all laugh again.

"Oh, shut up."

"Make me."

"What, are we three?"

"Times ten or twelve."

"Give or take."

"Do we need to separate you two?" Catherine asks.

"No, we'll be good, Mommy," Greg replies.

"Yeah, what he said," Nick adds.

"Constructive," Hodges snaps.

"Whose idea was this party?"

"Mine," Wendy tells him.

"Right," Nick replies. "Hence why we're here."

"Be nice, Stokes," Hodges says. "It's my house."

"Sorry, dear." We laugh as Hodges groans. "Hey, you wanna be part of the clan, you gotta deal with the quips and terms of endearment."

"Who said I wanted to be part of the clan?"

"You're the one holding the party."

"Wendy is holding the party. I just live here."

"You let her. The house is under your name."

"Why do you two always fight when you're together?" Sara asks, looking at them.

"It's always gotta be a pissing contest with you guys," Greg adds. Nick shrugs.

"Whatever," he says. Hodges shakes his head, walking away to play with the kids.

"He's a good father," Wendy says. "And a nice man."

"Underneath the asshole," Nick reminds her.

"What do you have against him? Why do you hate him? He's tough to get along with, I get that, but why do you always have to fight with him? You've been like this ever since he became a father. I don't see you fighting with Warrick or Greg. So why him?" Nick stays silent. "What is it, Nick?"

"It's nothin'. Drop the subject."

"No. I think I have a right to know why you keep fighting with my boyfriend. The man's just trying to raise his daughter."

"I'm sorry, Wendy. Really I am." He walks away, and I look at the others. Grissom's watching Nick, Catherine and Warrick are looking at each other, Sara's looking around like I am, Greg's watching Wendy, and Wendy's watching Hodges and the kids. Archie walks out of the house and sees everyone looking around.

"What'd I miss?" he asks. Heather, who had been standing beside Grissom with no reaction, turns to him.

"Nick and Hodges were fighting again," she tells him.

"Oh, so nothing new."

"Then Wendy starts on Nick," Sara says.

"Hey, if he was attacking your boyfriend and this was a constant thing, you would too," she defends.

"Not likely," Warrick replies, looking at Sara.

"She'd throw her own flesh and blood under the bus," Catherine adds. Sara rolls her eyes.

"Guys, please," Grissom says.

"What do you guys have against her?" Greg asks. "Since when are we at odds? Did I miss that memo?"

"Can't we all just get along?" Archie asks.

"Someone should go talk to Nick," Heather says.

"I will," I say, walking away from the feuding CSIs. I approach him quietly as he sits at one of the tables they set up. "Hey, you."

"Hi," he replies.

"So, what happened to never doing that again?" He sighs, shrugging.

"I don't know, Mandy. For some reason, he gets under my nerves."

"Because he makes comments about his kid? About you not having kids? Come on, give me something to go with here so I can help."

"I don't know what it is. If I did, it wouldn't bother me." He glances at the group of CSIs as the discussion between Catherine, Sara, Warrick, and Greg grows more heated. "What did I start?"

"Depends on what Cath and Rick have against Sara."

"Dependin' on the day, that could be nothing or a helluva lot."

"And today?" He shrugs.

"Last time out, Cath and Sara had a disagreement on their case, so maybe that's it."

"Cath said something about Sara throwing her own flesh and blood under the bus."

"Sara doesn't have any relatives to throw under the bus," he tells me.

"I know," I reply. "It stemmed from Wendy saying that Sara would defend her boyfriend if…"

"I attacked him like I did Hodges." He sighs. "Why do I do this, Mandy?"

"I don't know, Nick. I can't tell you." He looks at his shoes, and I put my hand on his shoulder. "I can't say that Hodges doesn't deserve it sometimes, but here at his house with his daughter present isn't one of them."

"I know. He didn't really provoke it. She's right. Ever since Vanessa was born, I've been doing this."

"Yeah, and the night she was born, he was rubbing your nose in it. Which…"

"Yeah, I know." He sighs. "I should apologize." I nod.

"Maybe if you…"

"No."

"But…"

"No. I can't. I could barely tell you." I sigh, nodding.

"Okay." Grissom walks over to us quickly.

"We have a case," he says. Nick looks up.

"All of us?" he asks.

"Yes, even those of us with the night off."

"What's goin' on?"

"Sofia's been attacked."

**_I'm sorry for blaming you  
For everything I just couldn't do  
_****_And I've hurt myself  
By hating you _**


	20. Chapter 19 Catherine

A/N: See previous chapters for disclaimers. With the help of my wonderful beta, lostladyknight, this has become a 3 for 1 night... yay! Song at the end is "I'll Wait for You" by Joe Nichols, which I do not own. Enjoy, and please review.

* * *

**Arguments, Processing, and Make Ups**

"Not the kind of fireworks I was expecting this Fourth," I say, looking at Warrick.

"Yeah, I know," he replies, sighing.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Sara snaps from the corner of the room. "But right now, this isn't about you or me or anyone else in this room. This is about finding out who wanted to hurt Sofia."

"Sara's right," Grissom says. "We're not going to accomplish much by bickering. Catherine, you and Sara put aside your differences and get to the hospital. Process Sofia and Rob, talk to the doctors and nurses. Nick, Greg, Warrick, and I will cover the scene." I nod, looking at Sara.

"Let's go," I say to her. She nods, following me out. We climb into the SUV, driving for a moment in silence.

"Wendy's right," she tells me, looking at me. "I would defend my boyfriend if someone attacked him."

"I know," I reply.

"You also know I don't have much of a family left, right?" I arch my eyebrows.

"I didn't know that."

"My mom died about six months ago. She was all I had left." I sigh, feeling bad.

"I'm sorry, Sara." She never told me her mother had died. She shrugs, looking out the window.

"So, that was a real low blow, Cath."

"I didn't know."

"You also didn't know that my father died when I was 13." I shake my head. "My mother died in prison. She stabbed my father in cold blood. Right in front of me."

"Sara…"

"No, you need to hear this. You know why I was in the room when my father was stabbed? Why I have problems with domestic violence cases to this day? My mother walked in on my father hitting me. She got pissed and stabbed him. No one would hurt her daughter. She was in prison for defending her daughter, her own flesh and blood. And that didn't matter in a court of law. She was still convicted."

"Sara…"

"That was the 80s, I know. Different time. But still…"

"Sara, come on." She looked at me. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you've always wanted to know, and I'm growing to be more open about myself, like you guys have always wanted."

"Seems like Greg's doing good by you," I tell her softly. She shrugs. "And it goes both ways. I can tell."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry about earlier."

"It's water under the bridge," she says as we pull up at the hospital. We walk inside. "So, I'll take Sofia, you take her boyfriend?"

"Works for me." She walks up to the information desk, and I follow her.

"Hi, I'm Sara Sidle and this is Catherine Willows," she says. "We're from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. We're here to process Sofia Curtis and Robert Bloom."

"Ms. Curtis is in exam room 5," the receptionist says. "Mr. Bloom is in trauma 2."

"Can you tell us anything about their conditions?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"I don't have anything, Ms. Willows. I'm sorry."

"That's okay. You've been a big help." We walk away, finding one of the nurses outside Sofia's room. "Hi," I say to him. "Catherine Willows and Sara Sidle, Crime Lab. Can you tell us anything about Sofia Curtis or Robert Bloom?"

"Uh, sure," he says, walking over to a laptop against the hall. He hits a few keys, and as the computer loads, he turns to us. "Ms. Curtis sustained some severe body trauma- broken ribs, broken wrist, broken ankle, stab wound, concussion. She'll be out for a while, out of work longer, but she'll make it."

"Any evidence of a sexual assault?"

"We haven't looked for it yet. We've been dealing with her wounds. Robert Bloom is in trauma 2, bleeding heavily, crashed once on the ride here. There's a good chance he won't make it out of this hospital." Sara looks at me sadly, and I sigh. "He was stabbed a bunch of times, according to this."

"Who has time to put it in the computer?" He chuckles.

"This is a teaching hospital. Students aren't allowed to jump in right away and attend to patients, so they do our paperwork and enter things into our computers for us." We nod.

"Thanks for your time."

"No problem." He rushes down the hall as an ambulance rolls into the hospital. Sara sighs, shaking her head.

"Should we get started?" she asks softly.

"I don't think we'll be allowed to touch Rob right now," I tell her.

"Partner up on Sofia?"

"Might as well." We walk into the room, and the medical staff look at us. "Catherine Willows, Sara Sidle, Crime Lab. We're here to process Detective Curtis."

"Doctor Florence," a man says. "She'll be okay. She's stable. We were about to move her up to a room."

"It'd be better if we could process her here," Sara says. "To avoid losing more evidence."

"Understandable."

"Did you find any signs of sexual assault?"

"Signs of sexual activity are an affirmative, clock suggests consensual." We nod.

"She's unconscious?"

"Yeah, she'll be out for a while."

"Thanks for your help." They leave the room, and we turn to Sofia. "Who did this to you?" Sara whispers softly to Sofia.

"Let's find out," I say, looking at her. We process Sofia before Dr. Florence walks back in.

"Ms. Willows, Ms. Sidle?" he asks. We look at him. "Just thought you should know that Mr. Bloom died about five minutes ago."

"Thank you," I say to him. He nods, leaving the room. Sara turns sadly to Sofia before looking back at me.

"Take him," she says. "I'll finish in here, then help you out."

"Sounds good." I walk into the room to find Rob's dead body, blood all over bandages in the biohazard waste can. Such a terrible waste. I sigh, setting about my work until Sara joins me. "Anything probative from Sofia?"

"Doc's right. Sex looks consensual. We'll have to see about the kit, but I'm thinking she might've just been enjoying her holiday with her boyfriend." I nod.

"Sad."

"Definitely. So, what do you need?"

"I need clothes collected and fingernails scraped."

"I'm on it." We process Rob, bagging and tagging. After a little while, I turn to her.

"All set?"

"Yeah. Let's get this out to the morgue." I nod, and we leave the room, telling the staff to have the body sent to Doc Robbins. We arrive at the lab to be bombarded by our colleagues.

"How is she?" Nick asks.

"She'll be okay," Sara says calmly.

"What about Rob?" Warrick asks.

"He's dead," I tell him gently. Nick, Greg, and Warrick groan, the latter punching a wall.

"We better find this guy," Greg says.

"Do some justice," Nick adds. Greg nods.

"Well, let's get to work," I say.

**_I'll wait for you  
At Heaven's gate  
Oh, I don't care  
How long it takes  
And I'll tell St. Pete  
I can't come in  
_****_Without my love  
And my best friend_**


	21. Chapter 20 Greg

A/N: I don't own any recognized entity, including (but not limited to) CSI, CBS, or "Broken" by Lindsay Haun, which is the song at the end of the chapter. There are about five more chapters and an epilogue after this, so please, review if you wanna hear what's going on. Any questions, please comment or PM me. :D Enjoy, and please review.

* * *

**Solving the Crime**

I sit in Wendy's lab, twiddling my thumbs. She sighs, looking at me. "Don't you have someone else to annoy?" she snaps.

"Nope," I reply, smiling brightly at her.

"Go away."

"I'm not Nick, you know. You don't have to hate me."

"You're annoying me, Greg."

"I'm just sitting here."

"You're happy."

"I'm not happy, I'm bored. And you're crabby."

"I'm sorry."

"Still mad at Nick?"

"Yes."

"Wendy, dear, get over it. He didn't mean it."

"How do you know?" I sigh.

"He's a good guy."

"I don't get why he hates my boyfriend. Why he always has to fight him."

"I don't either, but cut him some slack. Hodges isn't the easiest person to get along with." She sighs.

"Either way. The two are like oil and water, and I don't get it."

"Something's just aren't meant to be understood." She shrugs, sighing.

"I guess that's pretty true." The machine beeps, and the printer spits out the results sheet. She glances at them, then looks up at me. "Results from the kit- positive spermacide. I bet you had a good idea about that, because contusions appeared consensual. Fingernail scrapings came back with seven alleles in common with Robert Bloom. XY means…"

"Rob's father, brother, or son." She nods, and I take the results from her. "Thanks, Wendy."

"No problem." I walk out, meeting up with the others in the layout room.

"So, DNA kicked out seven common alleles between Rob and the scrapings under Sofia's fingernails," I tell them. "Rob's father, brother, son."

"Well, Rob's father died three years ago," Nick says.

"He doesn't have any kids," Sara says.

"So, we're looking at the brother," Catherine says.

"Devon Bloom," Warrick says, reading from a file. "Work card at Shimmer, he's a bouncer. Prints are on file and at the scene."

"Okay, so… Devon Bloom," I say. "What did he have against Rob and Sofia?"

"Have Brass track him down and bring him in," Grissom says.

"I'm on it," Nick says, walking out of the layout room.

"What about the bat at the scene?" Catherine asks.

"DNA matches Sofia and Rob," Warrick says. "Wendy got the results earlier."

"Prints?" Sara asks.

"Match to Devon."

"Ten to one, this guy's the attacker."

"Well, we'll see," Grissom says. "I'm going to head over to PD."

"Brass is bringin' the guy in," Nick says, walking back in. "I'm headin' over there with you." The pair leaves the layout room, and Catherine and Warrick head over to the morgue to visit Doc. Sara looks at me, the only other person left in the layout room now.

"Happy Fourth of July," she retorts. I chuckle bitterly.

"Yeah," I reply, sitting at the table. She sits next to me after closing the door.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine. You?" She shrugs.

"I flipped on Catherine in the car."

"Well, judging from the fact you two aren't at each other's throats, I'd say it helped more than hurt." She chuckles.

"Yeah, I guess." I sigh, closing my eyes. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yeah. I'm just tired."

"Long night last night?"

"Yeah. Emily wasn't one for sleeping last night. She finally crashed late and didn't wake up until we got to Hodges's."

"Oh, so she woke up in time for the party?"

"Yeah. And Daddy didn't get to sleep."

"Take a nap in the break room."

"I'm on the clock."

"So? I've taken naps while on the clock." I arch my eyebrows.

"Really?"

"Well, Grissom knew that I've been having issues, so…"

"Right. Well, all I need is a cup of coffee and I'll be good." She smiles.

"Well, let's get you to the break room," she says, wrapping her arm around my shoulders.

"Whatever you say, Mommy," I reply tiredly.

"You hate infantilism jokes, yet you always crack them."

"You're acting maternal. Sorry." She shrugs.

"Yeah, I guess I do sometimes." I stand up, and the two of us walk to the break room.

"Should we go to PD too?"

"Half the lab's already there."

"Why not join them? Not much else is goin' on tonight."

"Oh, don't say that. Because the second you do, five cases roll in and the entire shift's pissed they didn't get their holiday."

"They didn't as it is."

"Yeah. Can't predict this, though. I'm just hoping we caught the jackass."

"Yeah, I hope so too." We sit in the break room, drinking the swill they pass off as coffee. "Do they, like, get this crap in bulk?" I ask her. She laughs.

"Probably," she replies.

"God, this is disgusting."

"Then don't drink it."

"I have to. I need it." She shakes her head.

"Then don't complain." I pout.

"But you like me complaining."

"Not really. I think you're whining is your least endearing quality." I arch my eyebrows.

"Endearing?"

"Oh, be quiet, you." I grin, and she shakes her head. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" I ask, feigning innocence.

"You know like what," she replies, half-grumbling. I smile.

"Someone's testy." She sticks her tongue out at me. "Is that a promise or a threat?"

"Hmm… both." I blush slightly. "For a man with a kid, sex jokes make you extremely uncomfortable."

"It's not the jokes, babe. It's the one making the jokes." She chuckles. "So, shall we head to PD?"

"Works for me, I guess." We head over to the station as Brass, Grissom, and Nick enter the interview room with Devon Bloom. Sara and I head into the observation room, where Catherine and Warrick join us. We watch as the interview begins.

"We found your fingerprints at the residence of Sofia Curtis," Grissom says.

"So?" Devon asks. "My brother lives there too. I was visiting him."

"Is that how your fingerprints ended up on the baseball bat that was used to bash up Sofia Curtis and your brother?" Brass asks.

"My bro and I hit balls all the time."

"Yours were the only prints on the bat," Grissom says.

"So? Dude coulda used gloves when he killed my brother."

"You know, Devon, fingerprints aren't the only thing you left behind," Nick says. "DNA is an interestin' thin. The DNA we recovered from under Sofia's fingernails has seven alleles in common with Rob. Now, that means it's from a first degree relative- parent, sibling, child. XY chromosomes indicate male DNA. Dad's dead, Rob has no kids, so that leaves a brother. You're the only brother he's got."

"Yeah, okay," Devon says. "I did it, alright? I admit it."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to."

"What did they do to you?"

"It wasn't her, it was him. He's been an ass to me my entire life. The whole big brother thing. I wanted to be like him, and he hated me. So I wanted him to suffer the way I'd suffered."

"I think there was more to it than that."

"What do you know?"

"Dad's dead, so we checked into that," Brass says. "Car accident, no foul play. Mom died years before Dad, so you thought things should've been split between you and your brother. Only Dad's will gave you nothing and your brother everything unless your brother died first. I bet that pissed you off. So you kill your brother, thinking you'll get the inheritance you felt you were cheated out of. Except your brother lives with his girlfriend, so she has to go too."

"There's only one problem, Devon," Nick says. "Sofia's still alive. You failed." Devon shrugs.

"Never meant to kill her," he tells Nick coolly. "Had to hurt her all the same. If you're gonna arrest me, do it. Stop with the foreplay."

"Fine," Brass says. "You're under arrest for the murder of Robert Bloom and the attempted murder of Sofia Curtis."

**_I know what you're going through  
Don't let it beat you up  
Hittin' walls and getting scars  
_****_Only makes you who you are  
Only makes you who you are_**


	22. Chapter 21 Grissom

A/N: I don't own CSI, CBS, or any other known entity, including (but not limited to) "Downfall" by Matchbox Twenty (the song at the end of the chapter). My beta, lostladyknight, is fantastic forever. I'm hoping to have this finished by the end of the week, if all goes accordingly. :) Enjoy, and please review.

* * *

**Happy Birthday, 54**

Sara walks into my office before shift, and I look up at her. "Hey," she says softly.

"Hi," I reply, looking back down at the forms in front of me. I hear her sit down. "Can I help you?"

"Not really."

"Okay. Why'd you come to see me?"

"To wish you a happy birthday." I look up at her.

"Thanks.

"You're welcome." She smiles sweetly. "You're what, 54 now?" I shrug, half-tilting my head.

"Old enough to be Greg's father." She laughs.

"He does look up to you."

"Not like he used to. He's grown up a lot. How's he doing, on a personal level?"

"Personally, he's doing better. Sleeping better, taking better care of himself. He's always been great about making sure everything was fine with Emily. He's doing good, though. He's moving on, sorta."

"He's still apprehensive?"

"Well, he's going to be for a while. Kendall's only been dead ten months."

"They were only married for 18."

"So, if Heather were to die 18 months into your marriage, you'd be able to move on after ten months?" I sigh, looking down.

"Probably not." I flip over one of the forms, reading it and hoping that ends the conversation.

"Exactly. What're you working on?"

"Forms for a conference. Catherine." She nods.

"Right. When were they due?"

"They're due tomorrow." She smiles.

"So, they'll be on time, then."

"Yes." I check them over, the only thing left to do, before signing them.

"All done?"

"Yes."

"Good, because I was lying to you earlier. I do need your help. Or, at least, your opinion."

"Okay."

"I know this is weird, but what do you think about a summer wedding?"

"What?"

"Well, Greg asked me to marry him. I lied when I said he wasn't moving on. So I was wondering when I should set the date." I look at her, completely confused and utterly speechless. "You know what, never mind. I'll, uh, just go to the break room." She rushes out, and I watch her. Engaged? I stand, following her into the break room.

"Sara…" I begin.

"Surprise!!!" Sara, Nick, Greg, Warrick, and Catherine all shout, the latter four following me in.

"What's going on?" I ask them.

"Happy Birthday, Grissom," Catherine says, hugging me.

"How's it feel to be 54?" Nick asks.

"No different than 53," I reply, staring at Sara. "Uh…"

"I lied… again," she says with a shrug. "Got you to move pretty quickly, though." I shake my head.

"Good one."

"What'd you tell him?" Warrick asks as Catherine cuts the cake and hands me the first piece.

"I told him Greg asked me to marry him," she replies calmly. Greg turns a bright shade of pink. "I asked him what he thought of a summer wedding." Nick laughs.

"Man, he was haulin' ass," he says. "I figured you used a damn good line on him."

"Works every time."

"Sorry, but we really wanted to surprise you," Catherine says to me. I shrug.

"I had no idea," I tell her. "I had my nose down a microscope." She chuckles. "No, actually I was finishing up your application."

"Oh, great. You'll fax it tonight?"

"They'll have it tomorrow." She smiles.

"Thanks, Grissom."

"No problem." We enjoy our cake, laughing and making jokes until Ecklie walks in.

"What's going on here?" he asks, holding the assignments for me to hand to the team.

"Grissom's birthday party," Sara says. "Would you like some cake?"

"No, thanks. Happy birthday, Gil."

"Thanks, Conrad," I reply dryly, taking the assignment sheets from him. He walks out of the room, and I turn to the team. "Okay, one more piece of cake and then we'll get to work." They all smile.

"Sweet deal," Greg quips with a wink, causing us to laugh.

"You're back to lame jokes, huh?" Warrick asks. Greg shrugs.

"Sure looks that way." We all talk and joke for a few minutes longer, enjoying the calm before the storm.

**_Here we go again  
Ashamed of being broken in  
_****_We're getting off track  
I wanna get you back again_**


	23. Chapter 22 Warrick

A/N: I don't own any known entity, including (but not limited to) CSI, CBS, and "Something's Always Wrong" by Toad the Wet Sprocket. Many thanks to my wonderful beta, lostladyknight. Only four more left after this one, so please review. :)

* * *

**Movie Night Surprises**

"So, what's on the list tonight, 'Rick?" Nick asks as I sit on his couch.

"I don't care what you show, as long as it doesn't have ponies, baby geniuses, or talking dinosaurs," I reply, taking a handful of chips. He laughs.

"But aren't kids great?"

"Yeah."

"I mean, I love playin' with my nieces and nephews."

"I love Tatyana, but I hate watching TV with her." He laughs.

"How about 'Pulp Fiction'? Does it matter that we've seen it a hundred times?"

"Nah, it's still a classic."

"Cool." He pops it in, sitting back. "Where is Tatyana tonight? With Catherine?"

"Nah, I dropped her off with Greg and Emily."

"That's cool." He pops a chip in his mouth before opening his soda. "What was he up to tonight?"

"Not much. He didn't really say, but I think he was just gonna take care of the girls until they went to bed and then he was gonna relax."

"Sara there?"

"No, and I'm not sure she was heading there, either."

"Do you think he would've told you if she was?" I shrug.

"Doesn't matter anyway. She's babysat for me before." He nods. "Do you think the two of them are together yet?"

"Nah, man. It's too soon for him."

"I don't know. It's been, what, eleven months?"

"Eleven months against two and a half years," he reminds me.

"Yeah, I guess," I say.

"She's playin' the 'wait-and-see' game, lettin' him make the moves. She doesn't wanna rush him."

"But Emily's a huge factor."

"Of course. Sara's cool with that. She's been helpin' Greggo out."

"That's good. She can be pretty maternal sometimes."

"Yeah. She'd make a good mom." I nod, turning back to the movie. He takes a sip from his soda. "How are things between you and Catherine?" he asks, glancing in my direction.

"Great," I tell him. "They're really good. Catherine and Lindsey, on the other hand…"

"She still goin' nuts over college?"

"Yep. Driving Cath up a wall."

"She's excited and nervous. Man, I remember what that was like…"

"Yeah, so do I, and I keep telling them to be patient and relax."

"But knowin' Lindsey, she's not really listenin'."

"Nope." He chuckles.

"Like mother, like daughter." I laugh, nodding my agreement. We turn back to the movie as the doorbell rings. He gets up, answering the door and bringing in the pizza. "Dig in, man," he tells me.

"Where'd you get it from?" I ask, taking a slice.

"That place down the street, 'bout three blocks away."

"Oh, yeah, that place." We eat, watching the movie before he turns to me again.

"Does Grissom being married to Lady Heather weird you out?" he asks.

"Not anymore," I tell him honestly. "Now that it's been a year, no. You?"

"No, not really."

"What made you think of that?" He shrugs.

"I don't know. We were talkin' about kids earlier, and I remembered today's their anniversary, so I figured I'd ask."

"You were weirded out at first, weren't you?"

"Only because I thought Grissom would never get married. I thought Sara was his best bet, but then they broke up. The CSI and the dominatrix sounds like a good porno, so it doesn't weird me out." I laugh.

"Nice standards. What about if Cath and I were to ever get married?"

"The Two CSIs. It has potential." I shake my head.

"Man, you've been inhaling the print powder again, haven't you?" I ask him jokingly. He laughs.

"Nah, that's Sara's job," he replies. I chuckle as we both turn back to the movie. The credits roll for the end, and I stand, stretching. He does the same as his doorbell rings.

"Mr. Popular tonight, huh?" I joke.

"Bro, that's every night," he replies, winking. I shake my head as he opens the door for Mandy.

"Nick, we have a problem," she says quickly before realizing I'm there. "It can wait, though."

"No, it's okay," I say. "I can head out."

"I'm cool if she's cool," Nick says, looking at her.

"Fine by me," she replies. "We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"I'm pregnant." Nick's eyes widen, and I slink against the wall. Damn…

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I went to the doctor today because I thought I was sick, and she confirmed it. Six weeks." He nods, taking it all in. "I'm sorry."

"Nothin' to be sorry about. I'm the one that should apologize. But that doesn't matter, because we're gonna have a baby." She looks at him quizzically.

"You're okay with this?"

"I'm fine. You okay with this?"

"Better now that I know you're okay."

"Why wouldn't I be?" She chuckles nervously.

"Right."

"I mean, I come from a big family." He's covering, but I don't know for what.

"I'm kinda scared."

"It'll be okay."

"I don't know what I'm doing."

"We'll be fine." He kisses her softly before adding, "I don't either. We'll fail our way through it." She chuckles.

"Fine by me, Tex." He smiles.

"Maybe I should leave you guys alone," I say. Mandy and Nick snap to look at me, their faces flushing red.

"No, it's okay," she says. "I'm not really staying. I just came to tell you in person."

"Nah, it's okay. You guys need to plan and strategize. I need to pick up my daughter." I grab my coat, and she frowns.

"Sorry."

"It's fine, Mandy. Congratulations, both of you."

"Thanks."

"Thanks," Nick says. "You don't have to leave, man."

"I should be going anyway, though," I say. "Don't worry about it. Thanks for inviting me over and giving me the break."

"No problem. Can you do us one favor, though?"

"I won't tell Greg. I promise." He smiles.

"Thanks, man. I owe you."

"Yeah, you guys can babysit for me and Cath." He laughs. "Have a good night. I'll see you at work later."

"Later, bro." I walk out, smiling to myself through my own confusion. Nick Stokes- Crimestopper and Father-to-be.

**_And again, it seems we meet  
In the spaces in between  
_****_We always say it won't be long  
Oh, but something's always wrong_**


	24. Chapter 23 Sara

A/N: I still don't own CSI, CBS, or any other known entity. Song at the end is "Who You'd Be Today" by Kenny Chesney, which I do not own. Now, this is where your recall of all of the characters will come into play, and where all of the loose ends will be tied up and explained. Well, at least over these next three chapters (23, 24, 25). Many thanks to my beta, lostladyknight, who is amazing. Enjoy, and please review.

* * *

**Halloween Crimes**

I walk up to the scene and duck under the tape. Brass looks over at me, walking over and greeting me. "Happy Halloween, Sara," he mutters dismally as I reach him.

"Yeah," I reply sadly. "What's going on?"

"Young victim, just three years old, little girl. Grissom's already inside. Where's Sanders tonight?"

"He and Warrick are taking the girls trick-or-treating. They'll be in later." He nods.

"What about Nick and Catherine?"

"Catherine had the night off, but is on her way in. Nick's at another scene." He nods again.

"Well, good luck," he says, ushering me into the house. I walk into the room with the body to find David and Grissom leaning over it.

"TOD is approximately two hours ago," David says, looking at me. "Victim's about three years old, female, Caucasian, died of an apparent gun shot wound."

"Where's the family?" I ask, looking at Grissom.

"Outside," Grissom says. "Mom and Dad."

"Siblings?"

"None. Daughter was the only child." Sofia appears in the doorway with Catherine.

"Mother said her and the daughter were sick," she says. "So they stayed in tonight. Dad was at work, Mom fell asleep after taking cold medicine, never heard anyone come in."

"Welcome back, Sofia," Grissom says.

"Yeah, thanks. What a case to come back to, huh?"

"Yeah, I'll say," Catherine says, getting to work.

"I'll take the perimeter," I offer.

"Good," Grissom says. "Find out how he got in and out." I nod, heading out. I walk around the outside, finding the sliding glass door broken, leading into the kitchen. I photograph it, along with the disturbed dirt along the patio. Raked clean, probably of footprints. I print the sliding glass door handle inside, finding no prints. I look at the outside handle, discovering blood on it. I swab it before turning away. I walk around, finding no other evidence of entry or exit points. I look in the bushes, finding the rake. I photograph it, swab it for blood, print it, and come up with blood but no prints. I walk back inside the house, finding Grissom and Catherine picking up samples.

"Point of entry, back door," I say, startling both of them. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," Catherine says. "Continue."

"Well, whoever it was knew to cover his tracks. No prints on the door, no blood on the broken glass, but there was blood on the door handle. There were no footprints in the dirt beyond the patio because it was raked clean. I found the rake in the bushes on the side of the backyard, blood on the handle, took a swab but there weren't any prints."

"So, killer breaks the glass, enters, kills the daughter, leaves, covers his tracks in the dirt, but leaves blood on the rake and the doorhandle."

"I'm thinking quick dash, didn't throw away the gloves before he left. Either that, or he knows we can get prints from inside gloves."

"Still, why not wash off the blood? It'll get everywhere. He had to have ditched them somewhere."

"He took them with him, so he could've ditched them just about anywhere."

"Why take them with him?" Grissom asks. "Even if you're in a hurry, you take them off. And most people don't know we can print the inside."

"Guy must've known," I say.

"So, what are you saying?" Catherine asks.

"There's not much to work with in here," Grissom says. "So I think this guy has to know forensics."

"But no one knows everything," I say. "This guy had to have slipped up, and we'll catch him." Catherine's phone rings, and she picks it up.

"Willows," she answers. "Hey, Warrick. No, I think we're okay here. We'll need you back at the lab, though. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Okay. See ya then." She hangs up.

"Warrick?" Grissom asks.

"Yeah. He and Greg finished up, so they're on their way in to the lab."

"Okay. Sara, did you get…"

"I checked the entire perimeter," I say. "No footprints, nothing more than I told you already."

"I think we're done here, Gil," Catherine says.

"Let's go." We all go back to the lab, dropping off our samples in DNA and Ballistics. Warrick and Greg walk up to us.

"What we got?" Warrick asks.

"Murdered three year old," I say softly, watching the faces of the two fathers fall. "Little girl."

"Found with a teddy bear," Catherine says. "We sent the hairs and a blood sample to DNA."

"Other than that, there wasn't much of anything. Blood sent to DNA from the sliding glass door and from a rake they used to trash their footprints."

"This guy had to screw up somewhere," Warrick says. "How'd she die?"

"Gun shot wound," Grissom says.

"Mom had to have heard it," I say.

"We took a sample from the Mom," Catherine says. "Wendy's gonna analyze it, see if she was drugged worse than she thought." I nod as Bobby Dawson runs in.

"Ya'll, you are not gonna believe this," he says, out of breath.

"What's up?" Warrick asks.

"Ya'lls bullet matches a serial. Get this, Dallas '95, Boston 2000, Los Angeles 2005. Five dead in each location, all little girls between the ages of 1 and 5." The five of us turn away from Bobby to each other.

"Let's get this guy before he gets five in Vegas," Greg says softly. Wendy comes rushing in.

"Okay, DNA from the blood in the teddy bear and the hairs is old, but still viable," she says. "I mean, it's 15 years old, but someone's been maintaining it."

"Okay, I'm with you."

"You're the only one," I remark. Greg glances at me sharply.

"Anyway, I got a partial hit in CODIS, seven alleles in common with a male source of DNA," Wendy continues. "From a case about nine, almost ten years ago. Semen found in a used condom in Kristine Marie Hopkins' house."

"Wait," Catherine says. "Seven alleles in common?"

"And based on the age of the hair, it was the man's daughter."

"I don't remember the case," I say, confused.

"You should," Greg replies. "That was the one where Ecklie tried to charge Nick with murder. He left the semen in the condom."

"It's his daughter," Wendy says.

**_It ain't fair, you died too young  
Like the story that had just begun  
But death tore the pages all away  
God knows how I miss you  
All the hell that I've been through  
_****_Just knowin' no one can take your place  
Sometimes I wonder, who you'd be today_**


	25. Chapter 24 Nick

A/N: I do not own and am no way offiliated with CBS, CSI, or any other known entity. Song at the end of this chapter is "Now Comes the Night" by Rob Thomas, which I don't own. Thanks to lostladyknight for being a wonderful beta. This is part two of three of the case, and for those who missed some of part one, here's the recap- A three year old girl was murdered by the same guy who killed 5 little girls (ages 1-5) in Dallas in '95, Boston 2000, and Los Angeles 2005. One of the victims of Dallas's five was Nick's daughter. As of the end of the last chapter, Nick didn't know the guy was back, but he will soon. Enjoy, and please review.

* * *

**Bad Day Gets Worse**

I groan, walkin' into Mandy's lab. "Tell me you got somethin' for me," I tell her.

"Your print's on file, priors for assault and battery, as well as robbery," she says. "Jake Lincolns." She hands me the results sheet with a picture of Jake on it.

"That's the guy on surveillance. Case closed. Thanks, Mandy. I love you." She chuckles.

"Love you too." She turns back to her work as Judy runs up to me.

"Mr. Stokes, I have a message for you," she says, holding it in a gloved hand. "Random drop off, so I figured…"

"Prints and Trace, thank you," I say, taking the glove Mandy hands me and putting it on. I grab another before opening the note.

'Welcome back to my world, Mr. Stokes,' it says. 'Can't fuck up your life this time, though. Your kid's not born yet. But trust me, within five hours, you'll be watching the life of one of your friends fall apart like yours did, because I'm not waiting for number five this time. Cowards run from their problems, Mr. Stokes, just like you did from Dallas. Catch me if you can.'

"Mandy, see if you can get a print off this," I say, handing it to her with a mixture of sadness and anger.

"Will do," she replies, setting it down. I walk into the hallway, shaking my head and sighing. The note reeks of the 5-1 Killer of '95. I run into Grissom, who grabs my arm.

"We need to talk," he says.

"Yeah, we do," I reply.

"The team knows about Hailey." I stop dead in my tracks.

"What?"

"We had a case tonight, murdered three-year-old."

"I know, I heard the call."

"Bullets match the 5-1 Killer case from Dallas '95, Boston 2000, Los Angeles 2005. We found a teddy bear with blood and hairs. Both samples fifteen years old, seven alleles in common with you." I sigh.

"Right." I look at Grissom. "Am I on this case or off?"

"You're the only one who knows anything about it, but you're emotionally invested."

"Ecklie knows. You know. Mandy knows."

"Ecklie and I only know because it's on your case file. It's not something either of us have discussed with you."

"Brass probably knows too. He's the one who hired me, after all." He shrugs.

"Either way, Nicky."

"I got some explainin' to do, I know." We walk into the layout room, where the rest of the team is gathered. Warrick, Catherine, and Sara all look at me, confused. Greg looks unphased. "Hey," I say.

"Hey," Greg replies.

"Tell us about this," Warrick says.

"Alright," I say, sighing. "5-1 Killer started in Dallas in '95. I was a CSI 1 out there then, engaged to Sandra Berman, with a two year old daughter named Hailey Alexa. First victim was a five year old girl. An hour after the CSIs left the scene, a note arrived at the lab, addressed to one of the CSIs workin' the case. Basic 'catch me if you can' type note. Lack of forensic evidence and no DNA at the time made the case hard. Five days later, another girl, four year old, dead, same signature, note arrived one hour after. Five days later, third. Then five days later, the fourth victim. Each victim was gettin' closer and closer in connection to the lab. The fifth victim, five days later, was my daughter." I close my eyes as Catherine immediately puts her hand on my shoulder. I look up, watching Greg and Warrick look nervous. Sara looks down sadly, and Grissom leans against the doorway, unphased. He knew all along, after all.

"Anyway, the guy disappears after that," I continue. "Reappears five years later in Boston, same signature, same time frames. Last victim was a CSI's daughter out there. He disappears for five years, shows up again in L.A. Only this time, instead of five days between murders, it's five hours. Same signature down to the last casing, so no chance on a copy cat. Fifth was a cop's daughter. Every victim of this guy is between the ages of 1 and 5, little girl, father's always at work when the child's killed."

"If this is the same guy, the note's gotta already be at CSI," Greg says.

"It is. It's with Mandy in the Print lab, but I doubt we're gonna find anything. Greg, Warrick, go home and grab your girls. Bring them into the lab. Advise Hodges to do the same. I think he's ready to make one of them the next victim." Greg nods, and he and Warrick rush out. I look at Grissom, Sara, and Catherine. "Now what?"

"Few more questions," Catherine says. "You never married the mother of your child?"

"Man, I tried," I say. "I asked her to marry me, she said yes, but any time I went to set a date, she'd find a reason not to. After Hailey died, it was almost like her reason for stayin' with me was gone." Catherine frowns.

"I'm sorry." I shrug.

"It happens."

"How come you never told us?"

"I don't know. I got here shortly after, and it still hurt too much. Brass knew because it was in my file, same reason Grissom and Ecklie knew."

"Greg didn't seem phased by it."

"Greg had his suspicions about the coat and the doll," Sara says. "It wasn't a certain thing."

"Hailey would've been…" Catherine begins.

"Eighteen," I say. "About Lindsey's age."

"That the real reason you left Dallas? Reminder?"

"Kinda. It was hard. Still is."

"That's why you fight with Hodges like you do," Sara says. I nod. "I'm sorry, Nick."

"It's okay." I sigh softly. "I've been trackin' this guy for 15 years. I was part of the original team against him. He's smart, and he knows forensics."

"You said he brings a note into the lab an hour after the CSIs leave the scene, right?" I nod. "How does he know when they leave?"

"We thought he might be a looky-loo, or maybe a reporter. We never knew for sure."

"What about a cop? Or a lab tech? Or even a criminalist?" I shrug.

"You think a crim, a tech, or a cop did this? Has been doing this?" She shrugs.

"I don't know. It's possible." I sigh again.

"We considered it, but never had sufficient evidence."

"Are the case files from the other places coming in?" Grissom nods. "When they do, I wanna look and see if there are any common people on them." John Drier, the dayshift guy, walks in.

"I heard the 5-1 Killer's in Vegas," he says.

"It's possible," Grissom says. "We don't know for sure."

"I'm here to help. I know this guy better than anyone else."

"We're all set, but thanks."

"I was there for the original investigation."

"So was I, John," I remind him.

"You're emotionally involved in the case, though," he says.

"You bein' an intern at the time does not make you an expert. We got this." John shrugs.

"Whatever. But when he strikes again, you'll be begging for my help." He walks away, and Sara and Catherine look at me.

"Asshole," Sara remarks. "So, you worked with him in Dallas?"

"Yeah," I reply. "He was just an intern, though. Was still there after I left."

"Was he like this out there?"

"Like what?"

"Helping his colleagues' wives cheat on them, and then being a dick when confronted."

"He got divorced out there, when I was still on PD."

"How come? His wife caught him in bed with another woman?"

"I don't know. By the time I got to the lab, it was old news, but still too recent for John to talk about."

"Right." She grumbles. "I hate that guy."

"Why?" I ask, curiosity mixin' with anger. I'm in a bad mood as it is without havin' to listen to her, but I know that's where this is goin'.

"He helped Tina cheat on Warrick!" she shouts.

"So? It's not like he cheated on you!"

"I don't trust him as far as Greg can throw him, and Greg can't even pick him up!"

"Isn't that just a little extreme? The guy's just tryin' to be nice and help, and you're hatin' him!"

"You mean to tell me you're not still mad at him for what he did to Warrick?"

"Of course I'm mad! It was wrong!"

"Then why are you jumping on me about it?"

"Because I'm not lettin' the fact that I hate the guy get in the way of realizin' that he could actually be useful in this case!"

"You trust him and his insight?"

"When it comes to this, yes, because he's experienced."

"You're full of shit, Nick."

"And you're bein' ridiculous, Sara. Find me when you get your fuckin' head out of your ass so you can see straight." I storm out of the room, walking into the print lab. Mandy looks up at me.

"Anything?" I ask, half-angry.

"No," she replies. "You okay?"

"The serial killer that killed my daughter is back, after one of my friends' kids, and Sara's fightin' me over trivial things and bitchin' about some dayshift guy."

"John Drier?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I know Sara can't stand him, so it wasn't a far leap." I sigh.

"I don't know, Mandy. Somethin's not right."

"Why do you say that?"

"She suggested it was a tech, a crim, or a cop, and she may be right. There were a couple guys out in Dallas with me when the killer struck the first time that are now out here."

"Were they in Boston or Los Angeles?"

"I don't know. I lost track of them because it bothered me too much."

"Yeah. And those guys would know the case, though, just like you do." I sigh.

"I don't know, Mandy. I really don't like one of them for this. That would mean that someone I knew, someone I was close with, killed my own daughter."

"So, follow the evidence."

"That's just it. There is no evidence. IBIS can only tell us that the cases are connected and that the gun being used is a Colt .45. Other than that, there's nothing. No actual gun means no serial number, means no trace. No other evidence at the scene."

"Except this time." I arch my eyebrows. "News travels fast. You know that."

"A teddy bear with my daughter's blood and her hair, preserved well enough to keep DNA."

"So the killer had to know DNA and how to make it last. And he had to know that in '95, when DNA was still an emerging field."

"Right. So, the killer knows forensics, knows how to make DNA last, and knows when CSIs leave the scene. Maybe Sara's right. Maybe we are looking for a criminalist or a lab tech."

**_Now comes the night  
Feel it fading away  
And the soul underneath  
Is it all that remains?_**


	26. Chapter 25 Greg

A/N: I don't own CSI, CBS, or any other known entity. Song at the end is "Waiting on the World to Change" by John Mayer, which I also do not own. Thanks to my beta, lostladyknight. Welcome to the conclusion of the 3 parter... I hope you enjoy the show, and please review. :D

* * *

**Catching a Serial Killer**

Warrick and I get back from picking up our kids at about the same time, and we walk into Trace. Hodges and Wendy look up at us. "What exactly is going on?" Hodges asks.

"The 5-1 Killer's back," Warrick says.

"And Nick said the note said that our kids were in danger," I add.

"Nick knows this case better than anyone. It's to keep them safe."

"Okay, great," Hodges says. "What are you guys doing? Dropping them off with me?" Warrick and I look at each other before looking back at him. He groans. "Fine. Wendy and I will watch your girls."

"Thanks, man," Warrick says.

"Knew we could count on you," I add.

"Don't get used to it, Sanders," he snaps. We put the girls down and walk away, heading for the layout room. Sara and Catherine are pouring over files as we walk in, while Nick and Grissom are no where to be found.

"Where's Nick and Griss?" Warrick asks.

"They're in a meeting with Ecklie," Catherine replies.

"Shit. That's never good."

"What're you guys up to?" I ask.

"We're looking over the cases for commonalities between bystanders, suspects, techs, officers, crims, for every city he struck," Sara says.

"And then we're gonna check that against our roster," Catherine adds.

"You think this was an inside job?" Warrick asks.

"The guy knows forensics," Sara says. "He knows when the CSIs leave the scene, and he knew how to preserve DNA for 15 years."

"This doesn't look good."

"No, I know."

"Did anyone make this case before?"

"I doubt it."

"So, how can we help?" I ask.

"Catherine's looking at Boston, I'm checking Dallas, so one of you can look at Los Angeles," Sara says.

"I'm on it," Warrick says, grabbing the file. I sit down as Ronnie walks in.

"Mandy kicked this to Hodges, who kicked it over to me," he says, putting the note down on the table. "Not handwritten, but the typewriter is the same as with previous cases."

"Typewriter?" Catherine asks.

"Yeah. Your guy's old fashioned. Uses a typewriter."

"So our guy's been using the same gun and the same typewriter for 15 years," Sara says.

"Stick with what you know," I comment.

"Right," Ronnie says. "Anyway, there were no prints or anything on the note, so it's all yours. Sorry."

"It's okay. Thanks, Ronnie."

"Sure." He walks out, and I look at the others.

"A guy keeps his gun for 15 years, that's not entirely surprising," Catherine says, looking up. "But a typewriter?"

"Who uses a typewriter?" Sara asks.

"Obviously, our serial killer," I reply. She glares at me. "What?"

"Captain Obvious, we don't need your sarcasm right now." I shrug.

"Sorry, but you asked an obvious question. Begged an obvious answer."

"Smart ass."

"You love me anyway."

"Can you two stop flirting long enough for us to catch this serial killer?" Warrick asks.

"Sorry," I say.

"Sorry," Sara says. She turns back to the files in front of her, and I look around the lab as Catherine pops her head up.

"Sara, you may have been right about this hunch," she says, turning to her. "John Drier was in Boston in 2000. He was a CSI 1."

"In Los Angeles, too," Warrick says. "CSI 2 there."

"CSI 3 here on Days," I say.

"He's not the only one, though," Sara says. "Melanie Drier was in Dallas then too."

"And in Boston," Catherine says, sighing.

"Los Angeles too," Warrick says.

"So, little brother-in-law follows sister-in-law around the country," I say. "Most serial killers are males, though."

"There are still those psychotic females," Sara says.

"Anyone else?"

"Besides Nick, no one else was in Dallas at the time."

"Not even Ecklie?"

"You heard that earlier?" Sara had been arguing with Catherine earlier, accusing John Drier of the murder. To which Catherine said something about it only being because Sara hated him, and Sara agreed. Catherine made a comment that she would accuse Ecklie, and Sara replied that if Ecklie was in Dallas at the time, then he was a suspect too.

"Heard about it. But not the point. Answer the question."

"No, Ecklie wasn't there. There wasn't anyone else."

"What about Melanie's husband? John's brother?"

"He's not with PD, or the crime lab." I nod. "And I think Mel would know if her husband was a serial killer."

"Especially if he's freezing teddy bears." I close my eyes, dropping my head back. "So, what do we know about John and Melanie Drier?"

"You're forgetting Lieutenant Anderson," Nick says, walking in with Grissom. "He was a detective in Dallas, Boston, and Los Angeles. Just transferred here to Vegas three weeks ago."

"Okay, so we have three suspects, and no way to narrow it down," Sara says.

"Mass murder is a man's crime," I say.

"So what, you're excluding Melanie because she's a woman?"

"I'm just saying."

"It can't be her," Warrick says. "She was only in LA for the first murder. She was actually working here the night of the last one."

"Okay, so Mel's out," Catherine says.

"That leaves John and Lieutenant Anderson," Sara says. "What about this Lieutenant Anderson?"

"He worked nights in Dallas," Nick says. "The murders took place at night, when he was working. He had an alibi there, and we never had a gun, so if he didn't do it then, he didn't do it now."

"So, that leaves John Drier," I say. "How do we prove it?"

"Get his gun," Sara replies.

"He's not gonna give it easily if we can't prove rationale for it."

"We can't place him at the scene. As far as we know, he doesn't know the victim."

"Isn't the fact that he's the only person who's been around all these cases proof enough that he may be involved?" I look at Grissom.

"Could be coincidence," he says.

"What makes us so damn sure someone in PD or the crime lab did it?" Nick asks.

"Who else really makes sense, Nick?" Sara asks. "A note appears an hour after the CSIs leave the scene, addressed to one of the people working the case."

"Except I wasn't working this case when I got the note!"

"We're missing something," I say softly. I pick up the note and look at it.

"Like what, Einstein?" Nick snaps maliciously. "What the fuck could we be missin'?"

"What was John's job as an intern? What about his schooling?" I keep reading, even though I have no point to those questions.

"What are you getting at?"

"Did he know how to preserve DNA 15 years ago? When it was still new knowledge?"

"I don't know! I didn't work with him more than two hours a day!"

"What are you getting at, Greg?" Grissom asks calmly as I make my discovery. Score!

"The note makes mention of Mandy's pregnancy," I say, handing it to them. "The only people who know about that, work here in the lab. Including John Drier."

* * *

"You wanna tell me what this is about, Sanders?" John asks, lounging in the interview room. Brass looks at me.

"Just a little chat," I tell him, smiling.

"Why'd they let you run it? You're just a kid."

"I'm a CSI 3 now, in case you missed that memo, and also the only person who doesn't hate you. Wouldn't you rather have an unbiased interview?"

"So now this is an interview?"

"Something like that."

"Ah, I see. You're hoping I'll confess to something, because whatever it is, you can't prove it was me."

"There's a reason you're a CSI 3, huh?" I chuckle, and he rolls his eyes. "You're partially right. We can't forensically convict you, but cognitively, we have enough. Why don't I tell this like a story, okay? Because you and I both love stories."

"Whatever, Sanders. It's your show."

"Okay, let's begin. Fifteen years ago, you're an intern for the Dallas Crime Lab, working days. Around that time, five little girls between the ages of 1 and 5 all get murdered, shot with a Colt .45, five days apart from each other. An hour after CSIs leave the scene, a note written on a typewriter appeared at the lab, addressed to one CSI in particular. In Dallas, it was Nick Stokes, correct?"

"It's your story."

"Sit back. There's more. Now, the last little girl was Nick's daughter, Hailey. And in the final note, it said 'now you know the pain I've felt. Catch me if you can.' And after that, it all stops. And then, Boston, five years had passed since the Dallas murders. Killer decides 'what the hell,' murders five more innocent girls, five days apart, sends a note to a CSI Davidson, whose daughter was the fifth victim. Five years later, Los Angeles, same story except for one twist- the murders are now five hours apart. Only five victims, move on. Now, Las Vegas, the first victim had a teddy bear with blood and hairs on it from Nick's daughter. There's only been one Vegas victim."

"So? While you're harassing me, he's out there killing someone else's kid. You can't prove I did this."

"Sure we can. Our killer had to know how to maintain DNA, when DNA was still an emerging field, so he had to be in school or hanging around a crime lab. Since he knew who was working cases and knew to get the note in an hour after the CSIs left the scene, he had to have been around the lab or been a cop. Only three common personnel have been around for all four locations- Lieutenant Anderson, Melanie, and you. Melanie was only in LA for the first murder, has an alibi of working here for the last, so that takes her out."

"I don't see you talking to Lieutenant Anderson," John quips. I chuckle.

"See, there's a reason for that," I say. "The note that went with the first Vegas murder was addressed to Nick, who hadn't been on the case at the time. And the note made mention of Mandy's pregnancy. Something that only the Crime Lab knows about." John swallows, looking nervous. "Yeah, you threw yourself out there on that one. And I did a little digging. Sixteen years ago, your daughter was shot and killed. CSIs spent one hour at the scene, and it took them five days to give up and call it off. I bet that pissed you off."

"You have no idea, Sanders! Five days, and they decided that there wasn't enough evidence. That they were done. You know what that's like? She was three years old, and they didn't waste their time. I was only an intern. I wasn't important to them. That case tore up my marriage, and no one cared." Nick slips in the room, and Brass watches him.

"Why?" Nick asks. "Why kill all those others? Why my daughter?"

"Wanted to make a statement," John says simply.

"And you use all those innocent girls to do it? You killed my daughter just because?"

"Pretty much. I knew it would light a fire under your ass. Worked, didn't it? You guys worked your asses off to find out who killed your precious baby girl. Proved me right."

"You son of a bitch."

"I'm the son of a bitch? My daughter dies, and I can't even get one of you to stay at my house more than an hour. Your daughter dies, and hell freezes over. Of course, that's what happens when the victim is the granddaughter of Judge Bill Stokes."

"I wasn't even one of the CSIs on your daughter's case! I wasn't even in the lab!"

"You were one of the officers there. You were so self-centered, and more concerned with the fact that Sandra was ignoring your request to set a date again, that you weren't even paying attention to the scene. You were just as bad as the rest of them."

"You killed my daughter!"

"And I'd do it again, too." Nick lunges at him, catching him in the throat and choking him. Brass and I pull him off quickly. "Hot-head."

"Yeah, but I'm not a murderer," Nick snorts angrily, stalking out of the room. John shrugs.

"No, but you're still a dick," he says. A uniform leads John out of the room, and I turn to Brass, sighing.

"Nice job, Greg," he says, sitting down and gesturing for me to do the same.

"Thanks," I say, taking his hint. "It was a team effort, though."

"I was talking about the interview."

"Oh."

"You know, there's a reason I'm in here. That's to help with the interviewing. Now, I can't do that if I don't know all the shots."

"I know. I'm sorry." He shrugs.

"Don't worry about it. Just don't do it again."

"Got it." He nods, and his fatherly side sets into his features.

"How are you doing since coming back?"

"Better. I'm doing good."

"That's good. How's your daughter… Emily?"

"She's great. She's growing up so fast." He smiles.

"That tends to happen. How old is she now?"

"Sixteen months, so she's babbling and starting to walk."

"Oh, that's great." I nod, leaning back with a smile. Amidst all the chaos surrounding the day, by the end, we're two colleagues having a chat.

**_So we keep waiting  
Waiting on the world to change  
_****_We keep on waiting  
Waiting on the world to change_**


	27. Epilogue Warrick

A/N: I don't own CSI, CBS, or any other known entity. My beta, lostladyknight, is absolutely amazing and has my utmost thanks and praise. This is it, guys. It's been fun. Check out the end for a preview/summary of the stories in the pipes. As always, I hope you enjoy the end.

* * *

**Shower Time!**

Brenna and Ryan Webster, Mandy's parents, greet Cath and I at the door. "Welcome," Brenna says, smiling.

"Thanks, Mrs. Webster," I reply, shifting Tatyana's weight slightly.

"Who's this little angel?" Tatyana smiles, but says nothing.

"My daughter. She's a little shy sometimes." Brenna smiles.

"How old is she?"

"Just shy of three." Catherine smiles, and Brenna lets us go so she can mingle with some other guests. We reach our table, sitting down as Jillian Stokes walk up to us.

"Thanks for coming," she says sweetly. Catherine and I smile.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Catherine says.

"Yeah," I add. "It's not every day we get to come to things like this." Jillian smiles.

"Yeah," she says. "Took a while, but I think he's got a good one."

"Trust me," Catherine says. "He has a great one."

"As a mother, I can rest assured." Her and Catherine share a laugh before Jillian moves on to the next table. Grissom and Heather sit with us, putting Allison next to Tatyana. The six of us talk as the guests all settle in around us. The table next to us seats Greg, Sara, Emily, Hodges, Wendy, and Vanessa, with all four of the girls near each other. Henry, in from Hawaii for the shower, sits at another table with Bobby Dawson, Archie, and their dates. Nick and Mandy sit with their parents at a table not far away from us, and families and other friends are all around the room.

"Packed house, huh?" Greg whispers to me. I chuckle.

"Yeah," I reply. Nick stands up, taking the microphone.

"Hey, ya'll," he starts. "Thanks for comin' today to be with us as we get ready for the baby and the weddin'. I'd like to thank mine and Mandy's parents for puttin' this together, along with Catherine and Sara." We all applaud, and Catherine blushes. "And, most importantly, thank ya'll for the weddin' and baby presents." We all laugh. As Nick continues his speech, I look around.

Heather and Grissom hold hands under the table, thinking no one notices as they steal glances at one another. Grissom talks softly to Catherine, best friends standing the tests of time and odd relationships. Greg and Sara sit together, though not actually dating fully, but feeling things out between themselves. Nick and Mandy, the center of today's attention, flirt and kiss while everyone 'ooos' and 'ahhs' at it. As we all sit together in our little corner of the world, I can't help but think about everything.

Life's thrown our team some curves. We've been stalked, kidnapped, and had many events threaten to tear us apart. But in the end, the six of us have persevered through everything, and made it out better friends and a tighter family than most of us have ever known. We even lost a member of our squad, and when he returned three years later, it almost was like he never left.

That's love. That's family. And that's what we've got.

**The End**

* * *

A/N: So, what'd ya'll think? Please let me know.

As for stories in the pipeline, the first one up is going to be "The Savior for the Broken." It's turning out to be a rather Greg-centric piece, and is a post-Living Doll fic, which you can expect to see either later today or early tomorrow. And, here's a minor snippet of what you can expect.

_He felt a hand on his shoulder, and the former DNA tech turned to face Brass. "Hey, kid," the older detective said._

_"Hey," Greg replied quietly._

_"How you holdin' up?" The younger man shrugged, looking back at the casket._

_"I keep thinking this is just a really bad nightmare that I'll wake up from. Or, at least, I keep hoping that." Brass nodded his understanding._

_"It's tough."_

_"She didn't deserve this."_

_"No one does." Greg sighed, his heart heavy with regret and words left unspoken._

That's the major one at the moment that's coming up. The next planned one (for now, anyway) is "The Ghost of You," which will be a sort of short CSI/CSI: Miami crossover that takes place within seasons 7 (Vegas) and 5 (Miami). I don't want to give too much away just yet, though, since there is still some time before that pops up, but know that it's on the horizon.

That's all, everyone! Please leave a review for this story. :D


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